If you were a young lady of the 1980s and 1990s, you were probably as obsessed with The Baby-Sitters Club as I was. The television series, the books (even the ones with Karen, Kristy’s lame little stepsister), and especially the movie were all big fixtures in my house. True story: I didn’t own The Baby-Sitters Movie on VHS (there were no DVDs then, duh), but one of my best friends did, and I’m surprised she didn’t break off her friendship with me because I made her watch it every. single. time. I was over that house. Luckily, we are still friends, and luckily, I remember every part of the film, especially the amazing song that the baby-sitters made up to help illustrious artist Claudia Kishi pass her summer school exams.
For those of you who have never seen The Baby-Sitters Club movie, the foundation of this amazing song of which I will go into detail is that Claudia is not the sharpest babysitter in the Kid Kit. If you read the books, you know that Claudia was the artist who ate a lot of junk food, and she wasn’t really focused on her schoolwork. In the movie, Claudia is in danger of failing basically everything, and if she fails summer school, her parents are making her quit The Baby-Sitters Club. Tragic, I know. Luckily for her, the other sitters band together to create an incredible mnemonic song to help her pass school and stay in the club. It works, Claudia passes, and everyone lives happily ever after forever and ever (even Kimmy Schmidt benefits from the BSC).
One of the best parts of The Baby-Sitters Club as a whole was their ability to band together. United they stood, and they were resourceful girls, considering that most of them were only 13 (junior sitters Jessi and Mallory were only 11, which is way too young to watch my hypothetical kids, thank you). These girls had money, permits, and plenty of ideas. In the case of this lyrical magic, Kristy and company got together and penned an originally, scientifically correct song to help Claudia know that the brain, the brain was the center of the chain, and if you want to run, if you want to jump, you gotta get your left and right ventricles to pump. These are life lessons, people. They even rhyme “cerebral cortex” with “exist” which, though a little bit of a stretch, is pretty good for some 13-year-olds. They should have written the science textbooks that I received in high school. There was that time that they beat boxed in the middle of the song and it was embarrassing, but I’ve learned to take the good with the bad. Also, Alan Grey, class doofus, fell over, but didn’t he trip over himself at every opportunity?
Another true story: I sang this song to myself during my biology finals in tenth grade, and you know what? It certainly helped my knowledge of the anatomy section. I got an A on that final, so I guess you could say that The Baby-Sitters Club movie (and that little ditty) has played a part in my having a successful adult life. Thanks, Kristy and the gang! I’m just one more satisfied customer. Watch The Baby-Sitters Club’s best musical number below and see for yourself.
Images: Columbia Pictures; Giphy (2)
