The parents of one of our close friends, Kristy Thomas (who's also a member of the Baby-sitters Club), adopted a two-and-a-half -year-old Vietnamese girl. And they already had six kids between them.

"My mother wouldn't even have to quit work," said Dawn. "Kristy's mother still works. Of course, her grandmother lives there now."

"Yeah. I'm not sure we could convince a grandparent to pick up and move in with us. A baby is sort of a big job."

"I guess. But who could take better care of a baby than us? We're expert sitters, after all. I mean, we do belong to the Baby-sitters Club."

"By the way, what time is it?" I asked.

"Four-thirty. Our meeting won't start for an hour."

"Okay. I just don't want to be late. You know Kristy."

Dawn rolled her eyes. She knew all right.

We went back to our snacks. After a few moments, Dawn said, "Do you believe that new course we have to take? Instead of career class?"

"What? Modern Living?" I replied.

"Yes! I've never heard of such a thing. We're going to learn about marriage? And job hunting? And family finances? And divorce? I think I already know enough about divorce, thank you."

"I guess it is sort of weird. At leastLogan will be in my class." Not to brag or anything, but Logan Bruno is my boyfriend. We've been

going out together for a pretty long time — even though we have definitely had our ups and downs. I'm the only member of the Babysitters Club to have a steady boyfriend. If you^ knewLogan you'd understand why I like him. He's kind and caring and funny. He's really gentle, but he also plays great baseball and football. Plus, he's cute.

"My homeroom teacher/' Dawn spoke up, "said we have to take Modern Living because — and this is a direct quote — 'it's important that we explore and experience the realities of being an adult in today's changing society.' "

"That sounds like an introduction to a really bad social studies filmstrip," I said.