Mary Anne vs. Logan Chapters 1-5
Chapter 1
The book starts out with Mary Anne asking Dawn how she looks for a sitting job with the Prezziosos. Obviously Mrs. Prezzioso will ban anyone who isn’t wearing silk or velvet or lace and whatnot from babysitting her daughter. I guess that Mary Anne probably feels insecure because Mrs. Prezzioso is well-dressed. Mary Anne mentions that Mrs. Prezzioso has only gotten worse ever since she found out she was going to have another baby. Oh, you mean that Mrs. Prezzioso will undoubtedly want to dress her daughter up in frilly dresses and tie ribbons in her hair? Now, where have I heard this attitude before? Oh yes, that’s the exact same attitude you and Dawn took when you wanted a baby sister, you hypocrites! Granted I think the egg book was after this one, but seeing as the cult regularly bashes Mrs. Prezzioso for treating Jenny as a doll, this still gets hypocrisy points.
Dawn and Mary Anne are the only two who know what the baby will be. The rest of the cult wants to be surprised. Why do you care so much about the sex of the baby? I would probably just think the news is interesting, but not care that much. Will the BSC crowd the hospital room to see the baby or will their dislike of the Prezziosos overshadow their urges to cuddle all the babies? Maybe the BSC will just steal the baby because they are better parents than the Prezziosos. Everyone knows that dressing your child in pretty outfits and raising her to value cleanliness is child abuse.
Mary Anne introduces the BSC and gives her life history. No one cares. She gives a description of herself and mentions she has a boyfriend. It’s hard to believe she has a boyfriend because she’s shy. Yes, because shy people can never have a relationship with people. However, as someone who is shy and insecure I can understand going, “Why are you even interested in me?” The second reason is that Logan and Mary Anne are going through a rough patch. Mary Anne recounts the books where the BSC got stranded on an island and where Tigger went missing. Logan was a jerk to her, but I haven’t read the books so I can’t comment too much.
Mary Anne mentions that it’s hard to believe that she and Logan are having problems because they have such a good relationship. I’m no expert when it comes to relationships, but I do know that every couple hits rough patches. They don’t have to have daily screaming matches, but they do have disagreements. I don’t know how thirteen-year-olds deal with a romantic crisis.
Mary Anne mentions that Logan has been a little pushy lately and wonders if she’s falling out of love with him. You guys are in middle school. Judging from some of the Facebook statuses I’ve seen, people have broken up for less. The phone rings and Dawn goes to answer it. It’s Logan, so Dawn leaves to give Mary Anne her privacy. This is nice of Dawn.
Logan calls to ask Mary Anne if she can go to a movie with him, but Mary Anne says she has to babysit Jenny. Logan tries to persuade her but Mary Anne says she has a responsibility. She really does. I think it’s kind of bad manners to cancel a sitting job at the last minute so that she can go out with her boyfriend. Mary Anne nearly starts to cry when she tries to explain responsibility to Logan. I understand getting worked up over something minor- hell, I do it all the time. I understand being flustered and not being able to assert yourself. But is it really that hard to say, “Maybe some other time?” Logan is confused by Mary Anne’s refusal. I know that teenagers aren’t always known for their reasoning, but Logan seriously can’t understand that Mary Anne can’t play hooky with him?
I also wonder what Kristy’s reaction to this would be. Would her dislike of the Prezzisos overshadow her strict rules and paranoia? Oh, what am I saying? If Dawn did take over, Kristy probably would have whined about how a last minute change in sitters would have confused the clients and Mrs. Prezzioso would have told all her friends in the rich people club about the poor etiquette of the BSC.
Mary Anne nearly cries as she hangs up. Okay, I’m sensitive as well and the littlest things can set me off. I hate when people tell me I shouldn’t be upset about something because it’s not something that upsets them. But I can’t for the life of me figure out why Mary Anne is crying. Logan wasn’t a jerk to her. Maybe he shouldn’t have pushed her when she said she had to babysit, but is saying that they’re a couple and asking Dawn to cover for her really that bad? Did Mary Anne take his statement of “You and I are a couple” as a subtle dig at their lack of intimacy? Was she traumatized at having to turn down her boyfriend? What? Maybe I’d feel a little bad because I couldn’t go out on a date tonight, but I don’t know if I’d cry.
Mary Anne goes to babysit for Jenny. Jenny shows her presents her mom got her because of the baby. Why do that? I wonder if my mom gave me presents when she was pregnant with my little brother. I just asked. She didn’t. I feel ripped off. I guess it was because she figured a two-year old didn’t understand the concept of sibling rivalry. Logan calls her on the job and Mary Anne says she’s working. Logan snaps at her. Well, that was rude. Maybe Mary Anne doesn’t feel comfortable taking calls when she’s babysitting and Logan should respect that. He can talk to Mary Anne later. Besides, isn’t he worried about what Kristy will do to his girlfriend if she finds out she was talking to her boyfriend while on a job? Isn’t that frowned upon in the BSC? I mean, I can understand if Jenny was in bed and he called to say goodnight, but wouldn’t Kristy say that while Mary Anne was chatting with Logan Jenny could have fallen down, spilled some milk, or drank some Pine Sol?
To distract herself from Logan’s attitude, Mary Anne asks Jenny about her presents. Jenny expresses insecurity about being a big sister and says she knows that her mother is bribing her to like her new sister. Mary Anne puts Jenny to bed and Logan calls to see how the job is going. They both snap at her. At this point I think it’s clear that Mary Anne does not want Logan calling, but just to make sure he gets it, Mary Anne, ask him to stop calling you on the job. Logan calls again. Okay, this is getting irritating. Are you that desperate to talk to her that you can’t wait a few hours until she gets home or talk to her to school the next day?
Logan arranges for pizza and a movie as a date without asking Mary Anne what she wants to do.
Chapter 2
Mary Anne calls herself the world’s biggest wimp. We all know that. She feels guilty about not wanting to go out for pizza with Logan, but he’s trying so hard. What are you talking about? This is chapter 2. The conflict has barely started. Mary Anne isn’t always busy. It was one night she was unavailable because she had prior engagements. Mary Anne is confused about her waning feelings for Logan, so she calls Claudia because she and Stacey know the most about boys and Stacey wasn’t available. Claudia doesn’t have any advice, but Mary Anne feels better just venting.
Mary Anne talks about her friends. Apparently Kristy has the most unusual family ever. Yes, because a parent walking out on you and then that parent remarrying someone else and you getting stepsiblings and an adopted sibling is so unusual. Those events have never happened to anyone else in the history in the world. Oh, and no one else has their grandmother live with them.
Chapter 3
Mary Anne is horrified when she sees a brown stain on Claudia’s bed. She clearly thinks it’s a shit stain. I was about to say period stain, but I don’t know whether or not these girls have their periods. It’s only chocolate. I wonder if Claudia has a shitload of roaches and ants with all the junk food she hides in her room? Kristy comes thundering in and demands to know where everybody is. It’s five minutes before the meeting starts. Chill, Kristy. Claudia is calm and says that they’ll be here. The club shows up. Kristy, I show up to class early, but I don’t freak out when I don’t see anyone else, unless it’s twenty minutes after the bell.
It’s dues day. Stacey is delighted because she likes collecting money but hates parting with it. Ha. I love hoarding my money. Kristy asks after Mrs. Prezzioso and Jessi shrieks not to tell her about the baby. Okay, Jessi. Why are you getting so worked up over a client you tolerate at the best of times and demonize for the worst of times? Mr. Prezzioso calls to ask if three sitters will help with a baby shower for Mrs. Prezzioso. Two will decorate while one will watch Jenny. Kristy says they can accept because they will be babysitting a little. I’m so sure that if the BSC accepts a decorating job, clients will be confused and stop asking them to babysit. Even worse, they might ask them to do common household chores.
Mary Anne, Claudia and Stacey take the job. Jessi says they haven’t done anything like that, but haven’t they helped out at Lucy’s christening or something? How is that any different than this?
Chapter 4
Mary Anne is free because she doesn’t have any jobs or homework. This means it’s a perfect time for her to do cozy indoor things. She plans to read in front of the fire. That sounds like a nice plan. Mary Anne settles down to read Wuthering Heights. I never read that book. Would a thirteen year old really be reading that? I had to read To Kill a Mocking Bird in seventh grade. Didn’t finish it and I didn’t like it. I think it’s because we had to take turns reading out loud in class. I always hated that. There was the slow readers, the mispronunciation, etc.
Logan comes over and tells her that they’re going ice skating. I would have been bristling at that. Would it kill you to call and ask if I want to go ice skating? Suppose I wanted to watch a movie or continue reading? I bet Logan just didn’t want a girlfriend who wanted to read indoors while she could be outside ice skating. Logan looks excited and happy and I’m a wimp too. I would be annoyed that he didn’t call ahead of time, but I guess hanging out for a little while wouldn’t kill me. I do think Mary Anne should tell him he should have called next time or that she was reading, but I guess Logan would have brushed it off.
They go to ice skate and the park is crowded. Mary Anne tells Logan to slow down and he thinks it’s so people can admire what a great couple they are. I am quite sure everyone else is concerned with not falling to give a shit about you two. Mary Anne starts to get cold and asks Logan to stop skating. He thinks it’s because she’s tired and he only stops because he’s tired as well. Now Logan wants to help kids build a snowman. Logan is so caught up with being a kid (building snowmen, making snow angels) that he doesn’t hear his girlfriend telling him she’s cold. He finally realizes she’s cold when she gets frostbite and carries her off to do something about her toes and buy her hot chocolate to comfort her.
While they’re drinking the hot chocolate Mary Anne apologizes and says that she is really too cold. Logan dismisses her because he’s not cold, so therefore Mary Anne can’t be cold. Of course. The entire world has the same body temperature as Logan Bruno. Listen, Logan, I get cold from a wind or air conditioning during summer. When I stayed in Trinidad for Christmas I was cold because of the fan and the window being open. The second I had that room to myself I turned off the fan and closed the window. Bliss. I hate being cold. My entire human sexuality class thought the classroom we were in was too hot, but I wasn’t hot at all. People have different body temperatures. Mary Anne asserts herself and asks to go home. Logan is huffy because how dare his girlfriend get cold easily? Clearly this is just a ruse to get out of spending time with him. Shut up, Logan. It’s not Mary Anne’s fault she gets cold easily and throwing a hissy fit isn’t endearing you to me.
Chapter 5
Kristy thinks it’s unusual to get excited about Valentine’s Day even though she’s thirteen. The only reason I give a shit about Valentine’s Day is the chocolate. I like chocolate. Kristy is babysitting David Michael and her stepsiblings. It’s raining so the kids can’t go outside. The kids are running around screaming like little brats. I would have grabbed them and told them to sit down and shut up. Why don’t they believe in letting children sit quietly? Ordinarily Kristy would have told them to stop running around screaming because they might knock something over or get hurt, but she can’t because they’re having too much fun. Yes, because if a child is having fun you have no right to stop them from doing something dangerous or running around like a little brat. I think it’s that kind of attitude that leads to entitled children and accidents.
The other reason Kristy can’t take two bloody minutes to get the kids settled down is because Karen is moping. Oh no. Karen Brewer is not being her usual spunky self and making up stories about Mrs. Porter. She’s not trying to expose Mrs. Porter as a witch. She’s not forcing everyone to play Let’s All Come in. Cleary this is a national emergency. A kid is being quiet. I would be sending flowers to the aliens who took Karen and replaced her with this doppelganger.
Kristy takes Karen into the den to talk. Karen says that she and Ricky were going to get married but they had a fight and now the wedding’s off. Before Karen can tell Kristy about the stupid fight, Emily falls. Kristy finally puts an end to the chase and now everyone is upset because they don’t know what to do. Are you really so dependent on the BSC that you can’t think of anything you want to do indoors on your own? For crying out loud, play dress up, read a book, draw a picture, count raindrops, anything! Do you always really on Kristy to tell you what to do when you’re trapped indoors? I managed to entertain myself quite fine on my own indoors. Then again, I’ve never been an outdoor person. I like staying indoors and reading or watching TV. The BSC and Ann would have hated me.
Kristy suggests they make Valentine’s Day cards. I’m surprised she didn’t just yell, “Screw your boredom! KAREN is SAD! This takes precedence over all!” Karen is still moping while everyone is making Valentine’s Day cards. Karen tells Kristy that Pamela had a birthday party and her parents made her invite the whole class and Karen’s parents made her go. I would have been annoyed. Why the hell should I have to invite the whole class? Why can’t I just invite my friends? I don’t even talk to these people and I hate Karen Brewer. And I sure as hell would not to go to a party for someone I barely spoke to or someone I hated. What was I supposed to do there? Why do you have to invite the entire class to your party? I would have just been like, “I’m just inviting my friends. I don’t see why I have to invite the entire class, especially if I don’t like you.” This reminds me of the Arthur episode where D.W. is upset because she didn’t get invited to a party even though she isn’t friends with the girl. Should you really expect people to invite you to a party if you aren’t friends or even acquaintances with them?
I would like to see Claire Pike on the show where cops arrest kids throwing temper tantrums Arthur mentioned. I always thought she was brattier than Jenny. Ricky was going to give Pamela a snake as a present, but had a change of heart and got her a nice present. He smiled at Pamela. The two timer! I want to say two dimer. Didn’t someone call Logan that when they thought he was cheating on Mary Anne in another book? Maybe Ricky’s mother found out about his plan and made him get Pamela a nice gift. Or maybe he doesn’t want to be a jerk.
The others start getting riled up, so Kristy goes to take care of things while leaving Karen to contemplate relationships.