Dawn's a California Girl!

The Baby-sitters Club #23: Dawn on the Coast

Well, no shit, Sherlock. We all know Dawn's a California girl. And we love her for it. (At least, I do. All my ideas about California were given to me by Dawn (and in college, by the O.C.) As far as I'm concerned, California is entirely populated by sun-worshiping, beach-loving, health-food-eating, environmentally-conscious, house-with-skylights-having blondes.)

It's spring break (a full two-weeks! Who ever got a full two weeks for Spring Break??? We were lucky to get a week. AND they'd always try to lump our Spring Break in with Easter Break... so annoying! Silly Catholic schools.) and Dawn is off to California to visit her dad and Jeff. Yay, Jeff! But she can't possibly leave without a BSC sleepover to see her off, so they all gather at Kristy's.


And I just realized something... they're always going on about how Kristy's family is so big so it's a good thing Watson owns a mansion, because they need all that space, but that's total baloney. At this point, Emily Michelle and Nannie don't live with them yet, and Karen and Andrew only visit every other weekend. That leaves 4 kids and 2 adults occupying the house full time. I grew up in a family of six in a 1000 square foot, 3 bedroom ranch house, and it never felt particularly crowded. I mean, sure it would have been nice to have our own rooms, but six people certainly don't need a mansion. Even accounting for the fact that the Thomas-Brewers do need space for Karen and Andrew 2 weekends a month, so I guess 4 or 5 bedrooms would be better, but still--no need for a mansion. I mean, no one ever says the Pikes need a mansion!

But I digress. Dawn (or if you will, "Sunshine", which I will not harp on because to this day my father calls me "Princess".) arrives safely in Cali after a harrowing flight in which the stewardess chooses to ignore her in favor of flirting with Dawn's attractive seatmate, Tom. I like Tom. Basically the flight attendant skips Dawn when taking drink orders, doesn't offer her a headset, and forgets to bring her milk for her tea, but what really gets me is that she GIVES AWAY DAWN'S RESERVED VEGETARIAN LUNCH (even though when Dawn and the BSC go to California, Dawn orders the chicken on the plane. That always bothers me... is she veg or not??? I need continuity, people!!) But seriously, you cannot do that! She just hands Dawn a mystery-meat lunch and flounces away. If I were Dawn, there would have been some serious screaming going on. But then, Dawn always was way, way more laid-back than me.

So Dawn loves being in California (in this book, Mr. Schaefer and Jeff live in Anaheim, in the California Super-Special, they live in someplace called Palo City... again with the continuity, ghostwriters!), going to Disneyland with her dad and brother, eating delicious food cooked by her dad's housekeeper (I wish I could afford a housekeeper/cook. Mr. S. must be rolling in the dough!), and hanging out with Sunny and the We ♥ Kids Club (I find this name incredibly lame. And I thought so even when I was 8.) She baby-sits for Clover and Daffodil (sweet lord, such dreadful names). She goes to the beach. And suddenly she starts thinking about not going back to Connecticut. First she talks to her dad, who says he'd love for her to stay, but there'd be a lot of logistics to work out. She needs to make a decision so they have time to talk to Sharon about it. She asks for a little more time and starts making a pro and con list (I do that too! In this instance, I would title it "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" and then I would get distracted and start jumping around singing the Rolling Stones song, which may or may not have happened a few weeks ago when I was trying to decide whether or not to apply for a new job in Chicago.) California's pros include things like "health food" and "sunshine" but also more important things like "Dad and Jeff" and "Sunny and the We ♥ Kids Club." Connecticut's pros include "Mom" and "Mary Anne and the BSC" and "the kids in Stoneybrook." Hmmm. Mom, yes. The BSC, yes. The kids? Not so much of a pro, in my opinion. But we'll work with it. At the end of the day, however, it comes down to whether Dawn can leave Sharon, and she just can't do it (Of course, this won't stop her from peacing out 40 books from now, which has always bothered me.) But really, this book made me realize how ridiculous it is to drag your kids across the country after a divorce. I mean, I rag on a lot of the BSC parents, but I really think Sharon and Mr. S. (It really bothers me that he never gets a first name!) are two of the good ones, but this really, really bothers me. I know that Sharon grew up in CT and her parents live there, and I understand why she might like to return to what is familiar after her marriage broke up. But does she really think it's best for her kids? It's not even like she got a good job offer or something that pulled her there-- she spent the first several months in Connecticut looking for a job! She and Mr. Schaefer seem pretty friendly after the divorce, and he clearly cares for the kids as much as she does. He's not an abuser or a deadbeat, so there's just no reason for Sharon to haul those kids 3000 miles away. It's heartless and it's selfish. I know this is fiction, and I'm glad for us that Dawn moved to CT because I love her, but it is infuriating to me that these parents act like this. In fact, the more I think about it, the more angry I become with Sharon for this. In the end, Dawn has a tearful goodbye with her dad and Jeff and a tearful reunion with her mom and the BSC. I'm glad she came back (this time!). Of note: Kristy baby-sits for the Pikes and finds Vanessa and Margo writing secret messages in invisible ink. The invisible ink? Milk. And then you iron over the paper to make the messages show up. I thought this was the coolest thing in the world when I read this book 18 years ago, and I begged my mother to let me do this. She said no. She was so wise, because 18 years later, the thought of it just majorly grosses me out. Also of note: A list of Sharon's dates with the Trip-man-- a chamber concert, a wine tasting, and a lecture on humor. Dawn is appalled. I am more in love with the Trip-Man than ever.