The Baby-Sitter’s Club #22: Jessi Ramsey, Pet-Sitter

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I’m pretty sure the Mancusi family has been mentioned before. They own a ton of pets, including hamsters, dogs, cats and snakes. They’re also going away for a week and their pet-sitter cancelled at the last minute. Jessi usually sits for the Braddock family, but they’re going on vacation. Originally she planned on enjoying her free time, but she takes the pet-sitting job when no one else can do it.

Jessi does a good job watching over the pets (natch), though she does have a habit of inviting other people over to check out the animals. Mary Anne stops by with the Perkins girls and flips out when she realizes the lid to Barney the snake’s cage is missing. She keeps freaking out, but then Myriah remembers that snakes are cold blooded and helps them find him.

One thing that does bother her is that one of the hamsters sits by itself. None of the other reindeer will let it play in their games…oops, I mean it’s lonely. It’s also really fat too, but she keeps an eye on it. It starts acting weird, so she calls her mom, she comes over and they go to the vet. Turns out the hamster is a female and pregnant. Jessi takes care of the hamster until the Mancusis get back. They offer free hamsters, so she and Mallory both get one.

The other plot surrounds problems in the BSC. Everyone is sick of doing their job for some reason or another. Kristy is acting bossy, Dawn hates the way they bitch over her collecting dues and even Claudia is sick of people calling outside of meetings. They decide to vote and they all end up voting the same people back into the same jobs, so everyone makes up.

*Why do we keep hearing about how Jessi doesn’t have any free time? She does ballet after school, has school, works extensively with the Braddock family and still has free time for other sitting jobs. That sounds like a lot of time to me.

*How is Jessi a good substitute for a full time pet-sitter? Are we really supposed to believe that those dogs only needed walking once a day, after school? There’s no mention of her stopping by on the way to school or later in the day, just after school.

*I’m kind of annoyed that Jessi kept asking people to come over and see the animals or letting them into the house. I’d be more than annoyed if she was working for me.

Comments

  1. coulrophobic agnosticJanuary 6, 2011 at 10:45 PM

    This book bugs me because the family has a fucking COCKATOO and they're hiring an inexperienced 11 year old to take care of it, along with other unusual pets. The thing with cockatoos? THEY'RE DANGEROUS. They are incredibly strong and those beaks are incredibly sharp. A child Gabbie Perkins's age could literally lose a finger if it wasn't in the mood to be touched.

    And I would be pissed if I found out my pet sitter was leading field trips through my home.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JennJanuary 8, 2011 at 7:10 PM

    Me too! I only have cats and I still can't imagine asking an 11 yo to take care of them!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 22, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    I only have cats as well, 3 of them, and there is no way I would leave them with an 11 yr old or any teenager for that matter. My cats are like my kids and I wouldn't leave my kids with kids. I am still young enough to remember being a teenager and while I would like to think I was responsible now that I look back I'm not so sure lol...

    ReplyDelete
  4. SueJuly 14, 2013 at 9:03 AM

    I'm only 16 and I've been dog sitting on weekends and during the summer since I was 10 or 11. I've only been babysitting since around 13. Part of the reason for dog sitting was probably the fact that I have my own dog and I've been allowed to walk her on my own since I was 8, and I know how to take care of pets. But teenagers are definitely responsible enough to take care of pets, even most preteens, provided they have their own pets, and it's not more than two or three pets.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JennJuly 15, 2013 at 4:08 AM

    I think the point of this though is that Jessi literally has no experience. She has no pets, mentions that they never had pets, and only goes over there once before getting the job. I think the family had 20+ pets, which is way too many for one person to take care of.

    Also, my cats are temperamental and have quirks, so I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving them with someone so young. If she wasn't paying attention, one cat would be out the door and racing down the street, while the other would probably trip her and make her fall down. Seriously, one of my cats loves jumping in front of people or trying to attack their feet when they're walking by.

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownAugust 14, 2013 at 5:11 AM

    Nice! Thank you for sharing! Professional Pet Sitter

    ReplyDelete

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