Chapter 2.

Before I go on, maybe I better tell you more about the BSC and its members. First of all, the BSC is more than a club; it’s a business, really. A very successful business. The original idea for it was mine, which is why I'm president. I came up with the idea one evening when my mom was trying to find a sitter for David Michael. This was quite awhile ago, before she married Watson. She made, like, a million calls, but nobody was free (including me). Suddenly I thought, why not have one number parents could call and get in touch with a whole group of sitters?

Simple idea, right? Well, as Watson says, simple ideas are often the best ones. And the club was a big success from the start. At first we advertised with fliers and the occasional ad in the paper, but now we have plenty of clients. We meet in our vice-president Claudia's room three afternoons a week —

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays — from five-thirty to six. During those times, parents can call to set up sitting appointments. Our secretary, Mary Anne, keeps a record book so that we know right away which of us is free. The record book was my idea, too.

So was the club notebook, in which each of us writes up every job we go on. Then we read it every week, and that way we keep up with what's going on with our clients. The notebook is not one of my more popular ideas, since hardly anybody likes to spend her time writing up jobs, but everyone admits that it's very helpful. I, personally, think it's one of the things that contributes to the club's success. Parents know we care when we show up on a job already informed about their children.

What else? Well, we have a treasury which we pay dues into.