macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Aug 10, 2006 23:50:20 GMT -5
To be fair, however, Aunt C's live-in arrangement was saving them THOUSANDS a year in childcare (at least, that would be the case here). And Jessi probably just assumed the nanny thing without taking into account whether or not the family could afford it. But yeah, they probably seemed to have the most normal income.
Which she didn't do at all until Poor Mallory. There would've been no point her working when the kids were little, because seven kids in daycare would probably cost more than what she was earning!
Yeah, you're probably right. He was partner in a law firm, though, so I doubt he was strapped for cash. Just a tight-ass.
Definitely. Wow, they had some impressive jobs in Stoneybrook!
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Post by greer on Aug 11, 2006 0:21:28 GMT -5
I dont know if I've mentioned this before but shouldn't the Johannsens been living in the ritzy side of Stoneybrook? Maybe they were just modest but I would think a Doctor and an Engineer would be pretty well off. I remember Stacey saying that you'd think that the Johanssens would have a fancy house, but they were really modest people. Plus, both Dr. and Mr. Johanssen seem to work a lot, so a big house would require a lot more work that they probably don't have time for, and they might not want to hire a maid or something. Speaking of people who should live on the ritzy side, I'm kind of surprised Stacey didn't move there when she first moved to Stoneybrook. But then again I guess her father's job wasn't as well-defined and we did not yet know her mother's Tiffanys bills and then it would have changed the dynamic of the group to be like "Stacey's sophisticated and RICH!" and all that.
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Post by supernatural babe on Aug 11, 2006 11:58:50 GMT -5
I think it's fair to say that ALL of the babysitters club members should have been living in the rich part of town. Every single one had a parent/parents with a high powered job.
In the videos the houses look huge.
Stacey's bedroom looked like you could fit a class of 30 in there.
Dawn's wow! Massive. Looked like a small mansion. The barn is massive also.
I swear from one angle, Claudia's house looked like a small school.
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Aug 11, 2006 13:01:13 GMT -5
^ Yeah, they seemed to all have at least a two-storied house. That seems pretty rich to me.
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Aug 11, 2006 15:13:12 GMT -5
Well, they are all in a rich town. They're just not in the rich rich rich part of town. Or maybe that's just the part of town that flaunts its richness. Or maybe it's closer to the private schools.
Two story houses plus basements are the norm back east though.
What I want to know is how the Thomases ever got into the town? Do sportswriters make that much money? Maybe Patrick was older, but Elizabeth was only in her early 20s and not working. How did they save up the money to buy a house next to a lawyer and across from an investment banker while providing for three kids?
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Aug 11, 2006 16:08:30 GMT -5
Good point! There's always something new not making sense about these books I guess in Stoneybrook, everything is just possible.
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Post by greer on Aug 11, 2006 17:12:08 GMT -5
Stoneybrook was modeled after princeton, nj, which is not a poor town for sure. My mom worked at the university in the 70s and one time her car overheated and the gas station refused to help her because she didn't live to princeton. Both of ann's parents probably come from wealth as well, since her dad went to princeton and her mom went to wellesley, which says "money" to me, given how old her parents are. I think ann doesn't know much below upper middle class. Ann's dad was a prominent cartoonist for the new yorker; I'm sure her parents ran with a pretty sophisticated crowd.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Aug 11, 2006 18:52:04 GMT -5
In the books, Claudia's room could comfortably house seven girls, plus her bed, dresser, desk, directors chair, art supplies and mountains of hidden junk food. Also, on occasion, both Shannon and Logan attended the meetings.
Still, they never ever made a point of Stoneybrook being a rich town. Kristy was the only one ever described as OMG!RICH! and everyone else was just portrayed as average. But then, as greer pointed out, Ann obviously came from a wealthy background and maybe to her the Stoneybrook standard of living was simply the norm.
The public school thing was a bit strange, though.
Maybe they inherited money or something? That's probably the only logical explanation!
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Post by greer on Aug 11, 2006 19:05:06 GMT -5
If stoneybrook is really rich, it'd have good public schools, good enough for the well-off to send their kids there. Plus, stoneybrook day would probably run you about 20000 or more dollars a year for high school, judging by my knowledge of private schools.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2006 23:40:14 GMT -5
^ Agreed, all the private high schools around here are $20k or so.
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Post by liss31d on Oct 25, 2006 11:44:18 GMT -5
I don't think Mrs Barrett had much money. I remember when she was marrying Mr Dewitt, she said initially that they didn't think they could live there anymore as Stoneybrook was too expensive. I think in general you had to have good money to live there in the first place.
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Post by sparklymouse on Nov 30, 2006 15:00:27 GMT -5
I've never noticed this before now, but in two straight books I've just read they say that in the client info part of the record book they keep a list of what rates the clients pay. I'm surprised the club doesn't have a set fee for everyone. Someone like Mrs. Barrett might pay less than average while the Kormans or Papadakises might pay above average. Dawn could get screwed over by sitting for the Barretts so much, while Kristy could make a fortune on her side of town.
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gabbie
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 144
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Post by gabbie on Nov 30, 2006 16:20:36 GMT -5
It does seem odd that the BSC wouldn't have set rates since they are the best sitters in town and they don't have much competition. Obviously if the client was really struggling financially then there could probably be some sort of arrangement made but would you really tell your 13 year old babysitter if you were having major finacial woes?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2006 21:52:38 GMT -5
I was reading Kristy's Worst Idea recently, and noticed something that made me wonder. In it, Hannie says that her father "Builds houses and stuff." So, is Mr Papadakis a builder? Because if he is, then builders must make a lot more money in the States than they do over here, for him to live in Kristy's neighbourhood. Unless of course, Hannie, being 7, was just over simplifying his job, and he doesn't actually build stuff, but is CEO or whatever of a firm that does build things. Though it would have to be a pretty large company to earn millions.
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Post by liss31d on Dec 1, 2006 4:04:44 GMT -5
Unless Mr Papadakis is an architect, they earn good money...
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