BSC #18: Stacey's Mistake

By Ann M. Martin. Published November 1988.

I don't know why they're giving this little girl such
bitch face. She didn't do anything wrong.

Stacey is super excited, y’all. The older BSC girls are coming to New York for a visit. And they get to baby-sit. Yay. All the adults in Stacey’s building are having a meeting to discuss the homeless situation on their street, and Stacey was going to have to turn down four families. But the BSC can easily handle ten kids for a day.

Stacey goes to meet her friends at Grand Central Station, and waits and waits. Their train’s not late, they just got lost. They finally meet up, and Mary Anne’s being a walking guide book, Dawn’s petrified, and Kristy’s being loud. This is pretty much how they are the whole weekend. And Claudia’s got a huge suitcase, for just two days. Stacey is super embarrassed.

And they continue to embarrass her. They go to The Hard Rock Café for lunch, and Kristy mispronounces filet mignon. Then they go to Bloomingdales and Mary Anne almost gets arrested for stealing a makeup sample.

They go back to Stacey’s building and go around and meet all the families they’re sitting for the next day. They manage not to be embarrassing.

Stacey thought it would be a great idea to have a party, so her New York friends could meet her Connecticut friends. Well, it was a pretty bad idea. Laine comes over early, and Claudia immediately gets defensive, and she and Laine get all bitchy with each other. Then when everyone else gets there, Mary Anne weirds everyone out with her endless facts about New York. Kristy actually has a good time with a guy, until Claudia breaks in and flirts with him. And Mary Anne makes fun of Dawn being scared, which she overhears. So by the end of the night, they’re all pretty mad at each other.

They at least call a truce the next day, because it’s time to get to work. The first thing they’re doing with the kids is taking them to the American Museum of Nautural History. They walk there in two Madeline lines. The kids love the dinosaurs, and they spend a long time there. They move on to fish, but realize they’ve lost a kid. Whoops. They split up to search, and Mary Anne finds him back at the dinosaurs. Crisis averted.

They eat lunch at the museum, and then spend some time looking through the gift shop. Then it’s on to Central Park.

First they cut through a wooded area, and when they emerge, Dawn’s relieved they weren’t mugged. They watch the Delecorte Clock, and then it’s on to the children’s zoo. They eat dessert, and do some people watching. They go on the merry-go-round, even the BSC girls. When they get to the boat pond, they rest and Stacey tells them the story of Stuart Little. By the time she’s done, it’s time to head home. On the way, the kids sing “For they are jolly good sitters.” Aww.

They return the kids to their parents, who had a successful meeting, if you’re wondering. Then Stacey gets a phone call from Laine. She wants to make up with Claudia, and has six tickets to see Starlight Express, and a limo at her disposal. The girls are all over that shit. Claudia and Laine are nicer to each other, in fact everyone is. Yay.

When they get back to Stacey’s, they have a super silly “meeting.” Mainly they just get caught up with each other, and prank call Jeff in California. And they all end up apologizing for being assholes.

The girls sleep in the next day, then have a traditional New York Sunday morning with lox and cream cheese bagels, and the paper. You know Mary Anne loves that shit.

Then it’s time for the girls to head back to the ‘burbs. See you later, Stacey!

o   Stacey says only grandmothers have suitcases on wheels. When did they become standard? I can’t imagine a suitcase today without them.

o   Mary Anne informs Logan limo is short for limousine. He’s from Kentucky, he’s not stupid.

o   It drives me nuts when the girls send home postcards when they’re only gone for a weekend, or when they’re on the way home.