Book Perfume

Over the years, whenever I’ve found myself sitting down to a meeting with other women in my age group and everyone is snacking on something and one of us is recording things in a notebook, I’ve been known to say the same thing:

“This meeting of The Baby-sitters Club is now in session!”

Realistically, it’s something that I should cut back on because one of these days, someone is going to take it the wrong way and report me, but so far, no issues have arisen. I’m pretty good at knowing my audience. Besides, even though they were only thirteen (except for the junior members, who were ELEVEN! Talk about go-getters), the girls in The Baby-sitters Club had more professionalism, drive and business acumen than almost anyone I know. (Certainly more than I have. Kristy Thomas would never say “This meeting of The Baby-sitters Club is now in session” if a legit meeting of The Baby-sitters Club were not in session.)

No, the gals of my generation who obsessed over Ann M. Martin’s life-defining series certainly know what a compliment it is to be compared to the gang from Stoneybrook, CT. As The Baby-sitters Club turns 30 this week, here are some other things BSC fans know for sure.

Hiding candy under your bed is always a good idea

At least it was for Claudia Kishi. Mice and ants didn’t seem to be an issue, plus it made her room the place to be. (That and her personal phone line. What, what!) Besides, if you had to deal with a “perfect” sister like Janine, you’d need a chocolate fix too.

Diabetes is nothing to be ashamed of!

Stacy McGill was SO afraid to tell anyone that she was diabetic, and it wasn’t just because her BFF was a junk food junkie. The kids in her old school in New York used to make fun of her! (Jerks.) The moral of the story: haters gonna hate hate hate but you know that your friends are always there. (Yes, that is a mashup of Taylor Swift and the BSC theme song. Thank you for noticing.)

Middle school relationships can be SUPER SERIOUS

Everyone acted like Mary Anne Spier and Logan Bruno were practically married. When they broke up, it was DEVASTATING! It didn’t matter that they were in the eighth grade. They were in love! (That Louisville accent will get a girl every time.)

Dawn Schafer will always be just a little too cool for all of us

Guys. She was a vegetarian from California who was all about the environment. She was always wearing faded denim on denim. Was Dawn the original hipster? Probably, but she was too cool to use such a word.

Cam Geary is the living end

How do I know? Mary-Anne said so. She had his picture hanging in his locker and thought Logan looked just like him. (I’m picturing a less muscular Chris Hemsworth. Anyone else?)

Little boys can be a handful

Anyone who has spent an afternoon with Jackie Rodowski can tell you that.

Having a million younger siblings can be draining

Did you ever feel like Mallory Pike was just kind of there? That’s probably because her seven younger siblings kept her up all night and she was sleeping through the BSC meetings with her eyes open. But hey, she wanted to be a writer which is cool. It probably only had a little bit to do with writers needing their alone time. 

You CAN do it all, even if you’re eleven

Whoever came up with the rude expression, “Jack of all trades, master of none” clearly never met Jessi Ramsey. Not only was she a top-notch ballerina and baby-sitter, she was fluent in Spanish and picked up sign language like it was nothing. Plus there was that time she won a medal for swimming. And the time she was a pet-sitter. Did she ever have time to just go to the movies? Poor kid probably never even heard of Cam Geary.

Everyone’s got that one friend

You know, the one who tells everyone what to do and it’s like, if she wants pizza, just deal with the fact that you’re getting pizza. That friend is Kristy Thomas.

…and everyone’s got those other friends

The Shannon and Abbys of the group. You meant to invite them and then you’re sitting around eating pizza thinking, “What aren’t Shannon and Abby here?” and it’s because no one remembered to call them.

What do you remember most about The Baby-sitters Club? Claudia’s fab fashion? Kristy coaching her own softball team at the age of 13? Share your BSC memories below!