First mate's log:

November 1, 1971

I took Mary Ann to Ginger's Halloween party on Blenford. We dressed as Sonny and Cher, even though I'm much taller. Mary Ann thought I looked cute in a mustache, but I know I'm not as handsome as Sonny Bono. She had to wear one of Mrs. Howell's wigs, because her black hair isn't long and straight enough for Cher. She looked pretty in a different way than usual.

Greg and Marcia went to a Halloween party thrown by one of his friends. The younger Brady kids went trick-or-treating, even Peter.


Carol Brady's diary:

November 2, 1971

I've been busy the last week or so. Not just with Halloween of course but also as chairwoman of the junior high play committee. It took us awhile just to decide that the students would put on Shakespeare, and then we debated which play. In the end, we agreed on Romeo and Juliet. It should feel relevant to the kids, since the title characters are about their age, and there's action and romance.

Auditions will be on Friday, with roles announced on Monday. Miss Goodwin is allowing sixth-graders to participate, so I'm encouraging Jan to try out, not just Marcia and Peter. The play will be performed once, in about a month, on Friday, December 3rd.


November 4, 1971

Bobby and Cindy told me about the home-safety project that the middle of the elementary-school students are doing. A lot of times, the youngest two Brady kids feel left out of the stuff their older brothers and sisters are doing, because even Jan isn't really a little kid anymore. She gets crushes and she's auditioning for the junior-high play, Romeo & Juliet. (I remember how much fun Hamlet was, but this won't be a musical. Otherwise, I guess they would do West Side Story.)

Anyway, the second- through fourth-graders have to make sure their homes are as safe as can be, like doing fire drills and getting rid of "octopuses." I thought they meant real octopuses of course, although those never come on shore. But they meant when there are too many plugs in one outlet. I appreciated their safety tips and promised to make my home with the Skipper safer, and pass the tips on to Mary Ann for her home and the pizza place.


November 6, 1971

Peter came home early from a party last night, even though it was a Friday, not a schoolnight. Bobby and Cindy were showing me and Mike the "octopus" of plugs in the kitchen. It's part of a school safety project and they're more enthusiastic than they usually are about homework. All the kids generally do well in school, but I do sometimes have to nag a little to get them to do their assignments. This time though, these two are looking forward to the home fire drills and Bobby even brought home a whistle. Yes, we've let him know to not blow it too early in the morning or too late at night.

As for Peter, he didn't want to talk about it at first, but we got him to open up after awhile. Hardly anyone talked to him at the party, except for one boy who told him that he was dull. Poor Peter, but he is an adolescent now, and having a bad time at a party is something we all go through.

(Well, I sometimes still go through that as an adult. And, yes, I was spared that particular experience during the four years of being marooned. We had bad parties sometimes, but there were too few of us for anyone to be snubbed. Even the time the Skipper thought he wasn't invited to a Howell party, it was just a misunderstanding.)

In some ways, Peter is the most sensitive and insecure of our three sons, maybe because he's the middle boy. (It's the same with Jan of course.) And of course he's still adjusting to junior high.

He and Jan both auditioned by the way, but neither of them expects to be cast. However, Miss Goodwin has promised that everyone who tries out will get a role, not necessarily a speaking one. Marcia auditioned as the Nurse, and I think she has a good shot because she's a wonderful actress, and she is a ninth-grader after all. Peter said last night that he's probably too dull to even play a corpse in Romeo & Juliet.

We told him that he's not the slightest bit dull, but he said, "Parents have to say junk like that." We also said that things will look better after a good night's sleep, but he still looked down in the dumps at breakfast. Mike and I agreed that he didn't have to participate in the fire drill. Everyone else made it out of the house in good time, although Alice took a raw chicken with her and she joked that a real fire would've made it too well done.


November 8, 1971

Peter and Jan were cast as palace guards for Juliet's family in the play. Those roles don't actually exist in Shakespeare, but they were probably pretty easy to add. They each have a line. Peter will say, "Hark!" and then Jan will say, "Who goes there?" Peter thinks he must not be as good at acting as Jan, since her line is three times as long as his. But he's feeling down on himself because a guy called him dull at a party this weekend. I remember what that feels like.

(Even on the island, like when the girls were ignoring me because of Duke Williams the surfer. And I didn't have a great time at Ginger's Halloween party, to be honest, although it was nice to see her and the Professor.)

The big surprise is Marcia got the part of Juliet! She found out after I talked to Peter.

"I didn't even audition for that role. I wanted to be the Nurse, because she has a lot of great lines."

"Well, maybe there wasn't anyone good who tried out for Juliet."

"No, there was a girl named Tina who was great, but she's my understudy now. And Kathy Lawrence is going to be the Nurse."

"Oh, the girl who beat you out for the cheerleading squad?"

"Yes, but we're friends now. I just wish that we got each other's roles."

"Why's that?"

"Oh, I'm not noble or beautiful like Juliet is supposed to be."

I shrugged. "You're just as pretty as Kathy, just a different type. And you live on an island named after your family, so that sort of makes you nobility."

"Thanks, Gilligan, but I just know you're trying to be nice."

Peter didn't believe me either when I said I don't think he's boring.


November 9, 1971

Peter and Jan were cast as Capulet Palace Guards, but he seems to think his is a pity role. He's still moping around, but Marcia was actually devastated to be cast as Juliet! Yes, she auditioned for the Nurse, but Miss Goodwin told me that Marcia was the best actress of all and deserves the lead.

However, Marcia thinks she's ill-cast and that she only got the part because I'm chairwoman of the play committee. I told her that Miss Goodwin wouldn't spoil the play just to try to make me happy. (And, for the record, I'm just as proud of Peter and Jan.)

Mike and I both told her that, despite what she thinks, she is beautiful and noble. She said we have to say that because we're her parents, which was a politer version of what Peter said recently.

Honestly, sometimes I think Greg is the only one of our teen or preteen children who has any confidence, and he didn't handle it well when he kept losing out to Warren Mulaney.