Mary Anne Saves the Day by Ann M. Martin

Author:Ann M. Martin [Martin, Ann M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-545-32282-9
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 1986-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Saturday, January 31

Yesterday, Mary Anne and I baby-sat for the Pikes. I’m really surprised that we were able to pull it off. Hereby let it be known that it is possible: 1) for two people to baby-sit for eight kids without losing their sanity (the sitters’ or the kids’), and 2) for the baby-sitters to accomplish this without ever speaking to each other. There should be a Babysitters’ Hall of Fame where experiences like ours could be recorded and preserved for all to read about. To do what we did takes a lot of imagination.

Kristy’s wrong. Imagination isn’t all it takes. It takes a good fight, too. You have to be pretty mad at a person in order even to think about doing what we did at the Pikes’ that evening.

Before I go into what happened, though, let me say a little about the Pike kids. The most interesting thing is that three of the kids are triplets — Byron, Adam, and Jordan — identical boys. (Kristy and I can tell them apart, though.) They’re nine. The oldest Pike is Mallory, who’s ten, and is usually a big help to baby-sitters. After the triplets come Vanessa, who’s eight; Nicholas (Nicky), who’s seven; and Margo and Claire, who are six and four. They’re quite a brood. Actually, they’re really good kids, but their parents have raised them liberally (according to my father), and without batting an eye, they do things I’d never dream of. For instance, Claire sometimes takes off her clothes and runs around the house naked. No one pays a bit of attention. After a while, she just puts her clothes back on. Also, although each of the kids has to be in bed at a specific time, none of them has to turn out the light and go to sleep until he or she feels like it. As long as they’re in bed, they can stay up as late as they want. And they don’t have to eat any food they don’t like.

Kristy and I showed up at the Pikes’ at five o’clock on Friday afternoon. We showed up separately, of course. Actually, I have to admit that I’d sort of been tailing Kristy all the way to the house. Since the Pikes don’t live too far from Bradford Court, we were walking to their house, and I wasn’t far behind Kristy. I had to go very quietly so she wouldn’t know I was there. Once she turned around suddenly, and I had to duck behind a bush so she wouldn’t see me. When we reached the Pikes’, I hovered around the end of their driveway while Kristy went inside. I waited until the door had closed behind her. Then I rang the bell.

Mr. and Mrs. Pike were in a rush. Mrs. Pike let me in hurriedly and she and her husband started giving Kristy and me instructions. They were gone almost before I knew it. As soon as they left, the kids surrounded Kristy and me. They like baby-sitters.

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