Karen's Worst Day

[lisaerin]

I got Pokemon X for Christmas.

Chapter 1

Karen introduces herself and describes her family. I get slightly amused when she says that Sam and Charlie are old because they go to high school. I think it’s because I’m a senior in college and I’m wondering what Karen would say about me. I wonder if she’d see me as a grown up? I remember when I was in elementary school I thought fifth graders were so old and really important. I remember feeling that way about eighth graders in middle school and twelfth graders in high school. I never really pay much attention to seniors in college. Maybe it’s because I don’t know what year a person is in unless I’m told.

Karen mentions that she has a blanket named Tickly that she ripped in half so she could have a piece for both houses because she forgot Tickly one night. It would suck to forget your favorite blanket or toy. I couldn’t sleep unless I had three of my favorite stuffed animals on my bed. Karen mentions that she broke her wrist recently and thinks that was the start of her bad luck. Other incidents include losing a stuffed animal, dropping her tray at lunch and having everyone laugh, and getting in trouble when she gave Andrew an interesting haircut. Breaking a bone, losing a stuffed animal, and having everyone laugh at you does suck. I think Karen does deserve to have her parents get mad at her for cutting Andrew’s hair.

Now Karen is going to tell us about her worst day ever. When I read this I thought that Karen just overreacted to a bunch of minor inconveniences. It all started when she couldn’t fall asleep. That does suck. I hate it when I can’t fall asleep when I know I have to get up early. I try to fall asleep, but I just can’t do it. Then I finally manage to fall asleep an hour before I need to get up.

Chapter 2

Karen calls Watson because she can’t sleep. She can’t sleep because she can see the witch. Everyone says that the witch is really an old woman named Mrs. Porter, but Karen knows better. It just irritates me when Karen says that everyone tries to tell her that Mrs. Porter is harmless, but she knows better. Mrs. Porter isn’t her real name at all. It’s Morbidda Destiny. She’s a witch. Why else would someone have a garden where they grow things like herbs? Maybe some people like to grow their own herbs because they like to garden and cook? I wonder if Karen would think my uncle is a warlock because he has his own garden. Then again, he doesn’t dress all in black, so maybe not. I wonder how long it would take for someone to convince Karen that Mrs. Porter isn’t a witch. I’m surprised that whenever someone tries to point out that she isn’t a witch; Karen doesn’t just stick her fingers in her ears and scream, “I can’t hear you!”

Watson tells Karen that Mrs. Porter isn’t a witch. I seriously would have gotten so tired of telling Karen that Mrs. Porter isn’t a witch that I might have considered grounding her if she kept saying that. Watson tells Karen to think pleasant thoughts and she’ll have pleasant dreams. Karen manages to fall asleep and she has a dream about roller skating. Then she sees that there’s a cliff up ahead.

Chapter 3

Karen falls out of bed. Kristy comes running to ask if her arm is alright and how she managed to fall out of bed. I just assume that when someone falls out of bed they were rolling around in their sleep until they rolled right to the edge of the bed. Or maybe they were sharing the bed and their partner rolled around a lot until they were basically dangling over the edge of the bed. That happened all the time when I shared a bed with my little brother. Kristy comforts Karen and she’s rather nice about it. Karen asks if she woke Kristy up and apologizes. Kristy was already awake reading. I have a hard time imagining Kristy laying in bed reading. She seems like the type to be up and on the go constantly the minute she wakes up. I’ve read in bed plenty of times. There are times when I’m reading this really good book and I’m torn between finishing the book and going to bed because I’m getting tired. If I decide to go to sleep, the first thing I do when I get up is grab the book. Or maybe I don’t feel like leaving my room and interacting with anyone so I just lie in bed and read.

Kristy is going to help Karen get dressed. Karen wants to wear her new jeans, but she left them at Lisa’s. I hated wearing jeans as a kid. Kristy tells Karen to get dressed and that she has a surprise for her. Kristy’s surprise is to wear the same outfit as Karen so that they could pretend they’re twins. Karen is still thinking about how she wished she didn’t fall out of bed and that she had her jeans. Let it go, Karen. You fell out of bed, but you weren’t hurt. It’s over. I don’t dwell on the times when I fall of bed because it’s over in an instant. You’ll get your jeans when you go back to Lisa’s. These seem like minor inconveniences that could be brushed off.

Chapter 4

David Michael and Karen get into an argument about twins being exactly the same age. Karen says that twins can’t be exactly the same age because one twin is always a few minutes older. Watson puts a stop to the argument. Karen wants Crunch o Cereal, but Andrew finished the box and he got the prize. Karen is disappointed. I would be disappointed if I wanted something to eat and we were out of what I wanted. There was this time I got potato chips at the grocery store. I go to get some the next day and we were all out because my brother and his friend had eaten the whole can that night. I didn’t even get one chip. I was a little irritated.

Andrew offers to share the prize (tattoos) with Karen. Elizabeth finds another box of Crunch O’s and agrees to let Karen look for the prize. I think my parents would have told me to wait until the box was finished and I couldn’t go rummaging for the prize in a new box of cereal. How does that work when there’s more than one kid living in the house? Is it a matter of “This kid gets the prize this time, and then it’ll be this one’s turn to get the prize, etc, or “first come, first serve?” Karen isn’t automatically entitled to get the prize. It turns out that there’s no prize in the cereal. Andrew is nice and offers to split the tattoos with Karen. So Karen got her cereal and half of the tattoos, which is better than no cereal and no tattoos. She’s upset because she didn’t have her own tattoos and she didn’t have her zipper jeans. So she’s completely overlooking the fact that Kristy tried to cheer her up, that there was more of her favorite cereal, and that Andrew shared his tattoos. I think the problem here is that Karen is being an ungrateful brat. Maybe she’s having a bad day because she’s brooding about how things didn’t go exactly her way.

Chapter 5

Karen goes into the den. She realizes that it’s after nine, so there’s still time for the day to get better. She’s about to get up and turn on the TV when Andrew comes in and turns it to cartoons. Karen hates the cartoons Andrew likes. She likes Muppet Babies and shows about fairies and other girly things. She tells him that Mr. Ed is on but Andrew doesn’t give a shit. Andrew makes a good point when she says that Karen may have been in the den first, but she wasn’t watching TV. If the TV is off, I would think that it’s okay for me to watch my shows. Besides, Karen wasn’t reaching out to turn the TV on. I would probably ask if it’s alright if I turned on the TV. Watson comes in and does some actual parenting by telling them that Mr. Ed is half an hour and Andrew’s cartoons are one hour, so Andrew can watch his cartoons after Mr. Ed is done. I’m trying to remember if I know any cartoons that are an hour long. I think sometimes finales may be an hour long, or a special episode. I think I used to watch cartoons that were comprised of a bunch of shorts for an hour when I was young. Mr. Ed is cancelled. I hate it when my favorite shows are suddenly cancelled or taken off the air. I don’t blame Karen for being upset.

Chapter 6

Karen decides to go play with one of the pets because that might cheer her up. Boo Boo is nice to Shannon, but he’s mean to people. Maybe Boo-Boo doesn’t feel like putting up with your bullshit, Karen. Shannon is asleep, but Karen takes her outside anyway. When my puppy is asleep, that’s when I usually like to cuddle him because he doesn’t run off. Karen plays fetch with Shannon. If Karen took my puppy outside when he was sleeping, he wouldn’t wake up to play fetch. My puppy will magically wake up if there’s food, though. He was sleeping on my bed while I waited for my brother to get home. It was four in the morning when he got home. He brought me back a sandwich. The puppy was fast asleep, but the second food was involved, he was wide awake and begging.

When I play fetch with my puppy, it usually involves throwing something, him running like mad to get it, then running back to his bed to chew on it. David Michael calls Shannon and she runs off. Karen goes to play with Boo-Boo. Boo-Boo doesn’t want to play, and hisses, but Karen ignores him. I don’t think that continuing to handle an animal when they’re hissing or growling at you is a good idea. Suppose the animal bites or scratches you? Of course, Karen probably would ignore an animal hissing or scratching at her because she’s so determined to play with the animal. Karen takes Boo-Boo outside. He hisses and Karen sees that he’s looking at Morbidda Destiny. I’m going to imagine that that hiss was a warning to Mrs. Porter that Karen was around and now he’s going to climb up a tree where Karen can’t get him.

Chapter 7

Karen tries to get Boo-Boo down so they can play. Even if Boo-Boo did come down, I always thought that you played on the cat’s schedule and not yours. I’m imagining Boo-Boo smirking or smugly licking his paw while Karen tries to get him down. She tries cat food because that always works on TV. It doesn’t work. Boo-Boo looks like he’s settling down for a nap. Karen decides to climb the tree. Is she really that desperate to play with Boo-Boo? Can’t she play with one of her stuffed animals? Boo-Boo moves up higher. I’m pretty sure Boo-Boo is trolling Karen. Watson yells at Karen to get down because even he can’t ignore a kid with a broken wrist climbing a tree.

Boo-Boo decides to come down the tree now that Karen has given up. Mrs. Porter suddenly shouts, “Fiddlesticks!” and waves a rake around. Karen thinks it’s a spell. I think that Mrs. Porter just used the word fiddlesticks because maybe she doesn’t like to curse or she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to curse when you have a little kid living next door to you in case the parents tell you not to do that. I’m just imagining Mrs. Porter yelling curse words when something goes wrong and Karen thinking that it’s a spell. Karen runs back inside because she thinks Mrs. Porter placed a spell on Boo-Boo. I would leave the cat alone, but I would place a spell on Karen. I think a spell to make her silent would be a wonderful thing.

Chapter 8

Mrs. Porter apparently put a spell on DM because he was mean to Karen. I wonder if Karen defines mean as not letting her have her way. DM is going over to Linny’s house and Karen wants to go with him because Hannie is her best friend. David Michael doesn’t want her to go with him and says that he’s being mean. I don’t know what difference it makes. Karen won’t be playing with DM and Linny- she’ll be playing with Hannie. Maybe DM doesn’t want to be anywhere near Karen, even if it’s for a short amount of time.

The argument is settled when in a weird coincidence; Hannie and Linny come over to see if DM and Karen want to go bike riding. They’re also going to catch minnows in the stream and have a picnic. Karen glares at Hannie and calls her a toad because she can’t go bike riding or get her cast wet. I think Karen does have a right to be upset that she can’t hang out with her friends. However, I don’t think Hannie was trying to exclude Karen on purpose. Maybe she forgot or didn’t realize that Karen couldn’t go bike riding. Maybe she would have apologized for forgetting about the cast and something could have been worked out. But if someone’s first response is to call me mean and a toad, I probably would get defensive. It’s not like I’d leave my friend out of an activity on purpose. It would probably just be one of those, “Damn, I forgot about that. I’m a moron,” things with me, and I’d apologize.

Karen thinks that Mrs. Porter cast a spell on Hannie to make her mean as well. I think Hannie legitimately forgot or didn’t realize that Karen wouldn’t be able to go out with them. If I was casting a spell on the people in Karen’s life, I’d cast a spell so they’d stop giving her whatever she wanted all the time. It amuses me when Hannie and Karen get into a fight and are yelling, “Am not!” and one yells, “Are not so too!” Hannie tells Karen that she’s glad she isn’t coming and everyone leaves. Karen is upset that her day isn’t getting better. She wonders if it’s Morbidda Destiny’s fault.

I think it’s more the fact that you can’t let things go. Falling out of bed is a pain in the ass, but it’s not like there was any lasting damage. The most that happened was being embarrassed, but only Kristy knew about that. You forgot your jeans, but you know where they are and you’ll be able to use them when you go back to Lisa’s. I was a total moron and buried a bracelet I liked at the beach and lost it, so I can’t really sympathize that much. You got the cereal you wanted and part of a prize, but because you don’t have your own prize, it’s a big deal. The animals don’t want to play with you. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to play with Karen either. It does suck that your favorite show isn’t on, but at least it’ll be back to its regular scheduled programming tomorrow. I used to watch cartoons on PBS as a kid and there’d be days when the cartoons were gone and there were a bunch of adults talking the TV instead. I had no idea what that was about. All I knew was that my cartoon time was being interrupted. I just moved on with my life. I might have some more sympathy if the show got cancelled, because having a show get cancelled sucks. I think my brother is still upset about Young Justice. It also sucks when your favorite show isn’t airing anymore and you can’t find DVDs. Not being able to go on a picnic with your friends does suck, though.

Chapter 9

Karen goes to look for Kristy. Kristy is baking brownies for the next BSC meeting. I don’t remember anyone providing food for the meetings aside from Claudia. It just seems weird that Kristy is making brownies. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten used to Claudia providing food that I forget that other members of the BSC can bring snacks for the meeting as well. Kristy offers to play with Karen. Karen thinks that Kristy is just being nice to her, but she does want to play with Kristy. First of all, I’m sure Kristy would love to spend time with the BSC’s favorite charge. Second of all, Kristy doesn’t have to play with Karen, so it is nice of her to offer.

They play checkers and Kristy lets Karen have first move. Karen thinks that Kristy is not a toad. Clearly anyone who gives Karen her way is a good person and not a toad. Karen starts off the game really well, but tells Kristy not to let her win because she doesn’t like when big people do that. I can respect that. Kristy starts doing better and wins the game. Karen pouts because she didn’t win. She says that she’s a good checkers player. Maybe she is, but just because you’re good at a game doesn’t mean you can never lose. Sometimes you’re off your game. Sometimes people are just better than you.

Kristy sighs and Karen thinks that she looks like a grown-up and less like her big sister. I think big sisters are allowed to tell you when you’re being bratty. Or we should be allowed to tell a little sibling when they’re being a brat. Is Kristy supposed to put up with your pouting? Is she supposed to tell you that you’re the best little checkers player ever and Morbidda Destiny cast a spell on you so that you would lose? I would be tempted to just say, “You lost. People lose sometimes. Get over it. It’s just a game of checkers.”

Kristy asks if Karen wants to play again and lets her win. Karen gets upset. Kristy rightly points out that Karen was mad that she won. Karen didn’t want Kristy to let her win, either. Then what the fuck did you want her to do, Karen? Seriously? You don’t want people to let you win, but you get upset when they don’t let you win? What the hell do you want? Kristy apologizes. Don’t apologize, Kristy. Tell the little brat that if she doesn’t want someone to let her win, she can suck it up if she loses or you won’t play with her anymore. If I were Kristy, I’d be rolling my eyes and muttering about stupid little sisters.

Chapter 10

Karen needs to hug something. She says that Shannon is only good for hugging and playing with when she’s awake. My puppy is good for playing with when he’s awake(obviously) but he’s much easier to hug when he’s asleep. When he’s awake and I try to hug him and hold him on my lap he tends to squirm. When he’s half asleep I can hold him on my lap and he’ll stay there. Karen goes to talk to her stuffed animals about her bad day. I get that minor inconveniences can pile up, or maybe you’ll notice them more when you’re already having a bad day, but I think part of the bad day also stems from the fact that Karen is dwelling on minor incidents and ignoring the fact that good things did happen to her. She got her cereal, she got part of Andrew’s prize, and Kristy played with her. Then Karen realizes that Moosie’s stuffing is coming out and freaks out.

Chapter 11

Elizabeth comes to see what’s wrong and tells Karen that she can save Moosie. She starts to sew Moosie back up and tells Karen about her worst day. She flunked a test, her gym teacher yelled at her, she burned the chicken her family was going to have for dinner, she cut her hand, she got into a fight with her sister, and she lost her favorite earrings. Karen agrees that Elizabeth did have a bad day. I’m just shocked Karen is agreeing with the fact that someone else had a bad day instead of going, “What happened to me was worse.” Elizabeth reads Karen the story Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Karen thinks that Alexander had a worse day than she did because she never had a cavity. I’m just stunned at Karen agreeing that some people have it worse than she does. Elizabeth suggests that Karen pretend the day is just beginning and Karen does so. I love Elizabeth in this chapter. I’m not sure why the book had to go on. This would have been a good note to end the book on.

Chapter 12

Elizabeth tells Karen that she can go see if Mr. Venta the mailman is coming. Karen likes to ride with him in his truck. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t fly today. I’m kind of shocked that Karen is expressing regret for yelling at Hannie and wanting to apologize. Karen runs to the mail truck and sees a stranger driving it. She realizes that she can’t ask a stranger for a ride. I just remembered this story from not always right when a child asked someone for a ride on something. I forgot what it was. The person said no and the mom got upset and complained to a cop. The cop thought she was nuts for thinking it was okay for her kid to ask a stranger for a ride. Karen thinks that maybe something will come for her because it’s a new day. Luck is not on her side. It’s a package for Andrew.

Chapter 13

Elizabeth is making hamburgers for dinner per Karen’s request when Andrew and Watson come home from the barber. Andrew has a bad haircut, but Karen doesn’t say anything because she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. I’ve seen my little brother with bad haircuts lots of times when he was younger. He has pointy ears so when the barber cut his hair short you could really notice his ears. He looks much better with long hair. Karen is mad because Andrew is getting the prize and a package is totally unfair. It does suck that Andrew gets the prize. However, Karen isn’t entitled to the prize, either. Andrew and David Michael have just as much right to the prize as she does. She’s also forgetting that Andrew split the tattoos in half with her. He didn’t have to do that.

Andrew’s godparents send him presents for no reason. I might be sympathetic if Karen didn’t have godparents that do the exact same thing. The timing does suck, but she really doesn’t have an argument if the same thing happens to her. I remember when I went to my friend’s birthday party and her little brother got a present so he wouldn’t feel bad. I was shocked because that never happened in my house. Granted, I’m the older kid, so I wouldn’t have gotten a present when it was my brother’s birthday. But my brother never got presents on my birthday. If he did, I probably would have complained about why the hell he had to get presents on my birthday. I wonder if giving my brother presents on my birthday so he wouldn’t feel bad ever occurred to my parents.

Karen is furious that Andrew is having better luck than she is because nothing good is ever allowed to happen to anyone but her. Okay, maybe good things are allowed to happen to people other than her, but not when she’s having a bad day. Andrew gets movies (The Secret of NIMH and Lady and the Tramp) and wants to go watch them with Karen right now. Karen says no and makes fun of Andrew’s hair. Watson tells Karen to apologize, but she refuses. I probably would have gotten into trouble then and there for being a jerk to my brother and not apologizing when my parents tell me to. Karen continues with her tirade and tells Andrew that the movies are dumb and that he’ll hate them. My parents wouldn’t have allowed me to continue yelling at my brother.

Watson tells Karen to go to her room and she yells okay, and then stomps upstairs. I would have gotten in trouble for that as well. Karen should count herself lucky that she has such lenient parents. Of course, this may come back to bite her when she has to go out into the real world, but maybe Watson will just buy her way out of any trouble. I’m imagining Karen getting on one of those reality shows for bratty teenages and everyone is either condoning her behavior or wondering how she turned out this way.

Chapter 14

I want to slap Karen upside the head. She’s saying that it’s unfair that she’s being punished for having a bad day. No, you’re being punished because you were a toad that yelled at your brother for no reason. Are six year olds incapable of realizing when they’ve done something wrong, or is Karen just a self-absorbed twit that can’t realize when she’s in the wrong? Karen thinks everyone is being mean because she’s having a bad day and it isn’t her fault. Yes, but the way you reacted to what happened is your fault. And it’s definitely your fault that you yelled at Andrew for no reason. I might be sympathetic if he was bothering you, because it is a pain in the ass when a younger sibling or cousin is bothering you and all anyone says is, “Don’t let so-and-so get you so upset.” I still harbor some resentment that I always had to be the mature one and give in during an argument with my brother and little cousins and I was always the bad guy when I lost my temper after telling them over and over to stop bothering me. But Andrew just wanted to watch movies with Karen.

Karen thinks that it’s Morbidda Destiny’s fault. I think a witch would have better things to do than cast a spell so that you’d be plagued by minor inconveniences. I think I would have written this stuff off at six as not being a big deal. I also roll my eyes when Karen says that she’s been patient. No, you flew off the handle when something didn’t go your way.

Karen talks to Moosie. She says that everyone hates her. Kristy hates her because she acted like a baby. Watson and Elizabeth and Andrew hate her because she was mean to Andrew, and Hannie hates her because she yelled at her. So Karen is aware that she has behaved badly? Then why was she whining about being sent to her room because she had a bad day? She seems to realize that her behavior was wrong. Maybe she’s having a bad day because people aren’t putting up with her bad behavior. Karen starts to sing a song about everyone hating her and that she’ll go eat worms. She peeks outside and doesn’t see anyone around. Did she expect the world to stop because she was in time out? Was she expecting everyone to be waiting for her so they could take her out on a shopping spree because she deserved it after she had such a bad day? I’m just reminded of the episode of Arthur when D.W. got sent to her room and she went outside and was upset because no one even missed her.

Karen starts to sing the worms song at the top of her lungs. I would either have ignored her or shouted that if she didn’t shut up I would shove worms down her throat. Watson is a waffle and lets Karen out of punishment early. I don’t think you’re supposed to let the kid out of punishment if they’re being a gigantic brat. I got out of punishments early sometimes, but that was for good behavior and my mom was a little lenient because my grandfather was strict when she was a child. But my parents never let me off punishment early when I was being a brat. If I yelled and stomped, I would have been in trouble. If I slammed the door (Karen doesn’t do this) I would have been in trouble. If I threw stuffed animals and kicked things, I would have been in trouble. Karen gets away with so much. I dislike bratty children, but I dislike when people enable them just as much.

Chapter 15

The ice cream truck is coming. Karen is happy that she has enough money for a treat. I think she’s lucky that she gets a treat after being such a brat. I know it’s her money, but there are some parents that would tell her that they don’t care if it’s her money; she’s not getting a treat because of the way she behaved earlier. Hannie, DM, and Linny are back from the picnic. Hannie and Karen smile at each other and Karen thinks that everything will be alright. Karen wants a cherry Italian ice, but the ice cream man is out. Karen bursts into tears and runs inside. Why don’t you just pick something else? I wonder if everyone else is staring at Karen with WTF expressions.

Chapter 16

Karen doesn’t want to eat dinner because she’s exhausted from her bad day. This is despite the fact that Elizabeth cooked what Karen wanted. Everyone discusses their bad days. Andrew is sympathetic to Karen. Andrew is nicer than Karen deserves. Sam forgot his homework and stepped on Boo-Boo’s tail. He felt bad. I would have been apologizing so much and hugging Boo-Boo. Kristy forgot her lunch money, fell out of her chair, missed the bus, and her locker was stuck. Charlie wins the worst day award because he threw up. Throwing up immediately trumps forgetting your homework and missing the bus. Throwing up sucks. There are times when I forget just how much I hate it. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen very often. The last time I threw up was when I had the stomach flu in sixth grade, so I’d forgotten how much it sucked. But last year I had the stomach flu again and I remembered how much I hated throwing up. I’d forgotten about the upset stomach, and the nausea, and the burning throat. I was seriously considering throwing up in my tissue box because I didn’t have the energy to get to the bathroom. Thankfully, I was only sick for a day. And I just threw up last night, ironically enough.

Karen says that she has it worse because fourteen bad things happened to her. Karen was the one who started the fights with Kristy and Hannie, so I can’t feel too much sympathy. I also can’t feel sympathy because she got sent to her room for being mean to Andrew. She should have been punished for that. She’s lucky she got let out of punishment early. My parents would have yelled at me or extended my time out. Kristy thinks that Karen set a bad day record and Karen thinks something good finally happened to her. I suppose you getting Crunch-O cereal after all, Andrew sharing his prize, Kristy playing with you, Elizabeth being nice, Andrew offering to watch the movies with you, getting let out of punishment earlier than you should have, and Elizabeth made what you wanted for dinner means nothing. I think some of your behavior and ungratefulness contributed to your bad day. You couldn’t be grateful that Andrew shared his tattoos with you. You couldn’t be grateful that Kristy played with you. You were the one that threw a tantrum when Kristy let you win and then when she didn’t let you win. You were the one who yelled at Andrew when he wanted to watch the movies with you. You could have had a good time watching the movies, but you had to be a brat and yell at Andrew.

Chapter 17

Karen regains her appetite now that she’s set a bad day record. She finishes her food. Charlie and Sam decide to take her out for ice cream because she didn’t get any earlier. They ask her to be their date. I would not refer to my brother as my date, even as a joke. I’ve actually been mistaken as his girlfriend before. I wouldn’t call taking any of my relatives my date. I’d just call it taking them out for ice cream or going with them for ice cream. Karen hopes someone sees her in the car with Charlie because she gets to drive up front. I did think driving up front was cool when I was younger. I don’t remember if I’d have been excited to be seen with my older cousins. I love them, but I don’t remember thinking, “I hope someone sees me with them,” when I was younger. Karen whispers that nothing bad has happened yet. I wonder what could have happened. Let’s see, the car could have broken down, they could have been in a car accident, the ice cream shop could have been closed, someone could have farted and the windows might have been stuck so they couldn’t put the windows down, they could have hit traffic, the seats could have been uncomfortable, Charlie might drive too fast or too slow, the ice cream shop could have burned down, it could have closed because of health violations, etc.

Karen thinks they might be out of chocolate sodas, but they aren’t. She says so far, so good. Quit worrying about when you’ll be inconvenienced again. Charlie’s friends walk in and act like they think that Karen is Charlie’s girlfriend and they thought she was twenty-six. I think Karen is too dumb to realize that they’re making fun of her. Charlie will probably get teased once he meets up with his friends again. I think my reaction to someone calling me my brother’s girlfriend would be, “EW!” There was this time when my younger cousin said that I was going to marry my brother. She was three at the time. I think I’ll ask her if she’ll want to marry her brother just to see what she’ll say. I think she’s around nine now.

Karen actually thanks Sam and Charlie. She says that was the second good thing that happened today. Once again, I guess Kristy trying to cheer you up by dressing as your twin, Elizabeth letting you look for the prize, Andrew sharing his tattoos, Kristy playing with you, Elizabeth being nice and comforting you, Andrew wanting to watch movies with you, and Elizabeth making what you wanted for dinner means nothing. No, you were too busy whining because the slightest thing went on. It just irritates me that people were nice to Karen throughout the day and she was either an ungrateful brat or picked a fight with them.

Chapter 18

Everyone returns home. Karen calls for everyone and they turn off the TV. I probably would have just paused my show. I’m not turning off my show just so I can listen to a six-year old. Karen talks about how everything went right. I wish she had noticed when things did go right earlier on. I probably would have just shrugged off most of the stuff that happened with Karen.

Watson and Elizabeth tell the kids it’s time for bed. They have this ritual where they brush their teeth together and spit at the same time. They like to see how much foam is in the sink. They set a record, which is especially noteworthy because Karen had to brush left-handed because of the cast. That’s the third good thing that happened today. Karen thinks her bad day really is over. Maybe you could learn to laugh at what happened. My worst vacation involved me getting my period unexpectedly and all the stores were closed, so I couldn’t get any pads or tampons. I ended up getting blood all over the sheets, and I felt like crap. I also had to ride in a cramped car for hours, put up with my brother and a little kid hitting me, and the road was bumpy. I was praying for the day to be over. What happened is funny to me now. One good thing that came out of it was that I saw a really nice view, so I drew it, and my classmates complimented me on it.

Karen asks Elizabeth to do three things before bed.

Chapter 19

Karen actually apologizes to Andrew for her behavior. She says it’s because she was having a bad day and reads him the Alexander book. I find it kind of amusing that her blow-up with Andrew came right after she decided it was a new day. Andrew still offers Karen his tattoos and tells her she can watch his movies any time. Karen calls up Hannie and apologizes. She tells Hannie that fourteen bad things happened to her today. I don’t think that fourteen bad things had happened when you called her a toad. Karen and Hannie make plans to play tomorrow and Karen says she won’t call Hannie a toad. I’m sure she’ll call Hannie a toad if Hannie doesn’t let Karen have her way. Karen also thanks Elizabeth for fixing Moosie.

Chapter 20

Kristy usually tucks Karen in. Karen apologizes to Kristy for her behavior. Kristy says that it wasn’t nice of her to let Karen win either. Karen points out that Kristy was trying to be nice, but she was too busy feeling sorry for herself to notice. Kristy says that she won’t let Karen win next time. If I were in Kristy’s shoes and I decided to play with Karen again, I’d tell her straight up that I wasn’t going to let her win and I wasn’t going to put up with any tantrums if she lost. Kristy reads Karen Charlotte’s Web. I never read that book. Kristy tells Karen that tomorrow will be better. Karen can’t think of anything nicer.