"BSC024 - Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise - Martin, Ann M" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin Ann M)

After Stacey agreed to join us, we sent around fliers and ran an ad in StoneybrookТs newspaper so people would know when to call us Ч and we were in business! The club was great. By the time Dawn moved to town, we needed another sitter, and later, when Stacey moved back to New York, we were doing so much business that we replaced her with both Jessi and Mal. And somewhere along the line we decided that we better have a couple of people lined up whom we could call on in case none of us could take a job. So we signed up two associate members, Shannon Kilbourne and Logan Bruno. Shannon lives across the street from me in my new neighborhood. WeТre friends, sort of. Logan is a boy Ч and heТs Mary AnneТs boyfriend! Shannon and Logan donТt come to the meetings. We just call them when we need them, so that we donТt have to disappoint any of our clients by saying that no sitters are available.
I run our meetings in the most businesslike
way I can. As president, thatТs my job. Also, I come up with ideas for the club and generally just try to keep things going smoothly.
The job of the vice-president is, well. . . To be honest, Claudia Kishi is the vice-president because she has her own phone and personal, private phone number. The club uses her phone so we donТt have to tie up some grownupТs phone three times a week. The only thing is, our clients sometimes forget when our meetings are and call at other times. Claudia has to deal with those job offers, and she handles things really well.
Mary Anne Spier, our secretary, has the biggest job of any of us. Our club has a notebook (IТll tell you about that soon) and a record book. Mary Anne is the one who keeps the record book in order and up-to-date. She writes down our clientsТ names, addresses, and phone numbers and is responsible for scheduling all our sitting jobs on the appointment pages. This is more difficult than it sounds, since she has to keep track of things like JessiТs ballet classes, ClaudТs art lessons, MalТs orthodontist appointments, and you name
it. I donТt think Mary Anne has ever made a mistake, though.
Our treasurer, Dawn Schafer, collects dues from us every Monday and keeps track of the
money thatТs in our treasury. We use the money for three things. One, to pay Charlie to drive me to and from the meetings, since I live so far from Claudia now. Two, for club parties and sleepovers. Every now and then we like to give ourselves a treat. Three, to buy materials for Kid-Kits. What are Kid-Kits? Well, theyТre one of my ideas. A Kid-Kit is a box that we fill with our old toys, books, and games, and also some new things, like coloring books, crayons, or sticker books. Each of us has her own Kid-Kit, and we need money to replace the things that get used up. The children we sit for love the Kid-Kits. Bringing one along on a job is like bringing a toy store. It makes the kids happy. And when the kids are happy, their parents are happy... . And when their parents are happy, they call the Babysitters Club again!
Mallory and Jessi, our junior officers, donТt have any special jobs. The junior officers simply arenТt allowed to sit at night unless theyТre sitting for their own brothers and sisters, so when Mary Anne schedules jobs, she tries to give the after-school and weekend jobs to Jessi and Mallory first. That way the rest of us will be free to take the evening jobs.
And thatТs it. ThatТs how our club Ч Oh, wait. One more thing. The club notebook. The
notebook is different from the record book, but just as important. ItТs more of a diary than a notebook. Any time one of us club members goes on a baby-sitting job, sheТs responsible for writing up the job in the notebook. Then, once a week, each of us is supposed to read the notebook. This is really very helpful. We learn how our friends solve sitting problems, or if a kid that weТre going to be taking care of has a new fear, a new hobby, etc. Some of the girls think that writing in the notebook is a boring chore, but I think itТs valuable.
Okay. That really is it. Now you know how our club began and how it runs, so letТs get-~ back to business.
After I had said УOrder!Ф for about the third time, everyone settled down. УAny business?Ф I asked.
УDues day!Ф announced Dawn. She bounced off the bed, blonde hair flying. The treasury envelope was in her hands, and she opened
it.
УOh,Ф groaned the rest of us. We earn a lot of money baby-sitting, but we donТt like to part with it for dues, even though we know we have to.
УAw, come on,Ф said Dawn. УIt isnТt that bad. Besides, think of me. 1 have to listen to this moaning and complaining every Monday
afternoon.Ф Dawn collected the money, then handed some of it to me. УThatТs for Charlie,Ф she said. УWe have to pay him today.Ф
I nodded. УThanks, Dawn.Ф
My friends settled down. Claudia leaned against one of her pillows and began braiding her hair. Mary Anne unwrapped a piece of gum. Dawn flipped through the pages of the notebook. On the floor, Mallory doodled in one of ClaudiaТs sketchbooks, and Jessi absentmindedly lifted the cover of a shoe box labeled PASTILS AND CJ-IARCAOLS (Claudia isnТt a great speller), and exclaimed, УHey, thereТs M and MТs in here!Ф
УOh, yeah,Ф replied Claud. УI forgot about those. Hand them around, Jessi, okay?Ф
УSure!Ф said Jessi. She took out the bag of candy, replaced the lid on the box, opened the bag, and sent it around ClaudТs bedroom.
Everyone took a handful of M & MТs except for Dawn, who mostly eats health food Ч she wonТt even eat meat Ч and canТt stand junk food, especially candy. Claudia remembered this and handed Dawn a package of wholewheat crackers. Dawn looked really grateful.
This is just one of the things I love about my club family. We really care about each other. We look out for each other and do nice things for each other. Of course, we fight,
too Ч weТve had some whoppers Ч but thatТs part of being a family.
УWell, any more club business?Ф I asked.
Nobody answered.
УOkay, then. WeТll just wait for the phone to ring.Ф I picked up the record book and began looking at the appointment calendar. УGosh,Ф I said, УI cannot believe itТs already April. Where did the school year go? It feels like it was just September.Ф
УI know,Ф agreed Mary Anne. УTwo more months and school will be over.Ф She looked pretty pleased.
УYeah,Ф said Dawn happily. УSummer. Hot weather. IТll get to visit Dad and Jeff in California again.Ф
УWhoa!Ф I cried. I was still looking at our calendar. УGuess what. I just realized that MotherТs Day is coming up Ч soon. ItТs in less than three weeks.Ф
УOh, brother. Gift time,Ф murmured Mallory. УI never know what to get Mom. None of us does. She always ends up with a bunch of stuff she doesnТt want and doesnТt know what to do with. Like every year, MargoФ (Margo is MalТs seven-year-old sister) Уmakes her a handprint in clay and paints it green. WhatТs Mom going to do with all those green hand sculptures? And the tripletsФ (ten-year-old boys)
Уalways go to the dime store and get her really ugly plastic earrings or a horrible necklace or something.Ф
УOnce,Ф said Jessi, Уmy sister gave our mother a bag of chocolate kisses and then ate them herself.Ф
We began to laugh.
УThis year,Ф Claud began, УI am going to give my mother the perfect present.Ф
УWhat?Ф I asked.
Claud shrugged. УI donТt know yet.Ф
УI never have to think of MotherТs Day presents,Ф said Mary Anne softly.
The talking and laughing stopped. How is it that I forget about Mary AnneТs problem year after year? I never remember until somebody, usually the art teacher, is saying something like, УAll right, letТs begin our MotherТs Day cards,Ф or УI know your mothers will just love these glass mosaics.Ф Then I watch Mary Anne sink lower and lower in her seat. Why donТt the teachers say, УIf you want to make a MotherТs Day gift, come over here. The rest of you may read.Ф Or something like that. It would be a lot easier on the kids who donТt need to make MotherТs Day stuff.
Dawn looked at Mary Anne and awkwardly patted her shoulder.
Claud said, УSorry, Mary Anne.Ф
We feel bad for her but we donТt quite know what to say. Sorry your mother died? Sorry the greeting card people invented MotherТs Day and you have to feel bad once a year? Sorry we have moms and you donТt?
I was relieved when the telephone rang. (We all were.) It gave us something to do. I answered the phone, and Mary Anne took over the record book.
УHi, Mrs. Newton,Ф I said. УFriday afternoon? . . . Yeah, it is short notice, I guess, but IТll check. IТll get right back to you.Ф I hung up. УCheck Friday after school,Ф I told Mary Anne. УThis Friday.Ф
Mary Anne checked. УClaudiaТs free,Ф she said. УSheТs the only one.Ф
I glanced at Claud and she nodded.
So I called Mrs. Newton back. УClaudia will be there,Ф I told her. We said good-bye and hung up. The Newtons are some of our oldest clients. They have two kids Ч Jamie, whoТs four, and Lucy, whoТs just a baby. We all love sitting at the NewtonsТ, but Claudia especially loves it. I knew she was happy with her job.
The phone rang several more times after that. All job calls. Then, toward the end of the meeting, we began talking about MotherТs Day again. We couldnТt help it. We knew Mary Anne felt sad, but the rest of us really needed
to think about what to give our moms.