Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise (RS#24)

Original Publication Date: 1989

Ghostwriter? No

Synopsis:

Kristy and the BSC are wondering what to do for Mother's Day (while Mary Anne feels left out). Our Great Idea Machine comes up with a plan: they'll take their younger siblings out the day before Mother's Day, along with some charges, so the moms get some rest. Claudia finds a nearby carnival, and Stacey comes along to help. Those members without younger siblings make their moms personalized brooches, and Mary Anne decides that since her dad raised her alone, she'll get him a book he wants. And everyone loves the BSC.

But the real surprise is what Kristy's mom and stepdad announce. They've been asking how the Thomas and Brewer kids would feel about another sibling, leading Kristy and the rest to think that Elizabeth's pregnant. Nope! They (somehow managed, without telling the kids or needing to have social services visit the house or anything) adopted a two-year-old little girl from Vietnam. Welcome, Emily Michelle! Soon, Karen the Brat will name a rat after you.


Established or continued in this book:


The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: red hots in her pencil cup, Cheese Doodles under her bed, Cracker Jacks in her closet, M&Ms in a shoe box,

Claudia keeps most of her art supplies under her bed.


Their Families:

While Kristy makes a good point that families are not necessarily a mom, a dad, and 2.5 kids, I don't think Nanny qualifies as a one-person family. She's part of your family, Kristy. Along similar lines, one reason I love my granny is that she considers my nephew (husband's sister's son) part of her family. She's awesome like that.

I don't understand why it was a big deal for Mallory and Jessi to get their hair cut. It's not like they wanted to dye it wild colors or get expensive things done to it. Why did their parents care so much?

Sam and Charlie still play the cannonball game with David Michael, Karen, and Andrew.

There's more with Mimi deteriorating, building up for #26.

Stacey's parents have been arguing a lot.


The Club: Nothing new


SMS: Nothing new


PSA time:

Okay, I need to clarify this: the "greeting card people" did not invent Mother's Day. Neither did Hallmark. Various occasions to celebrate mothers have existed since ancient Greece. What we celebrate in the US was thought up by Anna Jarvis in 1907 to honor her late mother (Jarvis herself had no children). It quickly became commercialized, which Jarvis did not appreciate. Saying it's a Hallmark holiday is like calling Christmas a Hallmark holiday just because that store sells stuff for it.

Also, P. T. Barnum didn't say that there's a sucker born every minute; his rival did.


Misc:

I am always confused about how to write Mother's Day. Where should the apostrophe go? Anna Jarvis said it should be singular possessive, but I don't know... It's meant for all mothers, so it's plural. But if I'm just writing to my mom then should it become singular? Or should I forget it altogether and say it's a day about mothers and fine with no apostrophe? I feel like Janine in Kristy's Great Idea, standing outside Claudia's door contemplating whether The Baby-sitters Club should have an apostrophe.

This book takes place in April and May.

A Molly Gordon owned this book. And also a purple pen.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 1

Halloweens in 8th grade: 1

BSC Fights: 5

SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)

Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders

Clients: 19

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 33 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Gummi Bears, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)

Crushes: Claudia-3 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)