Chapter 4.

    I was still feeling a little shaky by the time I got to Claudia's for that day's Baby-sitters Club meeting, but I tried not to let it show as I slipped into my regular spot next to Mallory on the floor. As usual, I had arrived about two and a half seconds before Kristy called the meeting to order. (I nearly always get there just under the wire because of dance class, but nobody gives me a hard time about it, which I'm thankful for.) I guess I forgot to mention that our club always meets at Claudia's house, in her room. This is why: Claudia, the vice-president of the club, has her own phone and her own personal phone number. That means that we're not tying up any adult's phone while we take calls during meetings.

    Let me go back and explain a little bit about how the club began and how it works. The whole thing was Kristy's idea originally. Re-38 member how I told you that she's always having good ideas? Well, this was the ultimate good idea, and here's how it happened: One afternoon, way back before Kristy's mom married Watson Brewer, David Michael needed a baby-sitter. Usually Kristy or her brothers would have watched him, but this time none of them could. Mrs. Thomas made about three zillion phone calls looking for a sitter, but she wasn't having any luck.

    That's when Kristy had her brainstorm. What if parents could reach a whole crew of sitters, just by making one phone call? It seemed like a great idea. Kristy talked to her two friends Mary Anne and Claudia (who were interested) and they started a club - The Baby-sitters Club (or the BSC). Three people didn't seem like enough for a club, though, so Claudia asked Stacey, whom she was becoming friends with to join. It was just the four of them until Dawn moved to town and became friends with Mary Anne. Dawn had done some baby-sitting out in California, so they asked her to be a member, too.