First mate's log:

January 1, 1972

My New Year's resolutions are to keep trying to be like an uncle to the Brady kids, and to be as good a boyfriend to Mary Ann as I can. I don't have to resolve to be the Skipper's best friend, because that's easy and I've been doing it since I was a teenager.


Carol Brady's diary:

January 3, 1972

The holidays were lovely and lively, so I was too busy to write. The most surprising gift Mike and I got was an offer of a ski trip, from the Howells. It's been awhile since Mike and I have had any time away together, so our rich friends have arranged for us to fly from Blenford to Boulder. We'll stay at the Howell's Swiss-style chalet for a week, and then fly back.

We could choose any time, but we agreed that we'd rather wait until the kids are back in school, and the new semester started today. We'll head out on Friday and come back a week from Sunday. Alice should be able to manage on her own, especially if Greg and Marcia help and aren't going through any teenage drama, separately or together. And I know Gilligan and Mary Ann will check on the kids when they have time.

That said, I do know that Marcia and Jan had a quarrel, although I don't know what it was about. Well, Alice said it was something like Marcia said Jan "told you-know-whom about you-know-what and soon it'll be all over you-know-where," but that didn't exactly clear things up. Hopefully it's a minor sisterly spat and it'll blow over by Friday.


January 4, 1972

Marcia Brady told me that she had arguments with both Jan and Greg, but she couldn't tell me exactly what the fights were about. She did say that Greg accused her of telling Peter one of Greg's secrets, which Marcia would never do, especially since Jan recently told Peter one of Marcia's secrets.

I asked, "So are you all fighting with Peter?"

"Well, no, although we are annoyed with him for passing on secrets. Not that I know how he found out Greg's, because I sure didn't tell him, or anyone."

I hope they all work things out soon, because their parents are going on a ski trip soon, arranged by the Howells, and I don't want Mr. and Mrs. Brady's vacation to be spoiled by worrying about the kids. I'll step in if I have to, and I'm always happy to listen to all sides.


January 5, 1972

Now five out of the six kids are feuding. None of them will say why, it seems to be about spilled secrets. Cindy is a reformed tattletale but she and her sisters have all told someone something they shouldn't. The one exception to the quarreling is Peter, who looked quite amused at dinnertime. As with the time he was the only one to not confess to breaking my favorite vase, Mike and I suspect him of something, although we're not sure what. We'll talk to him about it shortly, and hopefully this will all be resolved by Friday, because I don't want this hanging over our trip.


January 6, 1972

Well, Jan told me what's been going on this week at her house, with all those exposed secrets. Peter borrowed his dad's tape recorder, the same one Greg used when he ran for Student Body President of the Junior High. (Marcia got elected last Fall, if I never mentioned it, but Jan says Marcia wins almost everything she tries.) Only, Greg borrowed it with his dad's permission, while Peter snuck it out of the den and has been using it to record his brothers and sisters' conversations. Then he used the secrets he learned, like Marcia having a crush on a boy whose name Jan wouldn't reveal to me, even though Peter knows it.

I was surprised he would do something so underhanded. Yeah, I've eavesdropped in my day, but I've never recorded it and I've never tried to make other people unhappy because of it, just for a joke.

But Jan said, "Well, it was kind of funny. And Pete isn't mean. He just doesn't think things through sometimes."

"So you've forgiven him?"

"Yeah, we've all forgiven each other."

I'm surprised that it's all settled that easily, but I'm glad of course, and not just for their parents' sakes.


January 8, 1972

Mike and I thought we had solved the problem with the kids, but Greg and Marcia disagreed. We talked to Peter in Mike's den and he confessed to not just eavesdropping on his siblings, but actually recording them, with Mike's recorder! We don't think he was being malicious though, so rather than disciplining him, we had him confess to and apologize to his brothers and sisters.

We thought that would be the end of it, but, although Peter's younger siblings seem to take it well, his older siblings did not. Instead of coming to us for an explanation of our rationale, they took it upon themselves to punish him. We wouldn't even have found out if Mike hadn't been having problems with his typewriter lately. He decided to use the tape recorder, since Peter had returned it to the den.

We didn't want to invade the children's privacy by playing back any secrets on the tape, but Mike did start the player, just to make sure that it didn't have something that the kids might want to keep, like a Davy Jones song, or one of Greg's recent compositions on the guitar. Well, I can guarantee it's something that Greg and Marcia wish they'd never recorded.

Sorry to be so mysterious, but I'm still quietly angry about it. The tape had them pretending that Mike and I were going to throw a surprise party for Peter for getting an A in Geometry last semester. It is true that Peter started out the school year having math troubles. He asked Mike, who's better at math than I am (well, Mike is an architect after all), "Why do I have to prove things that the teacher already knows are true?"

Unlike Greg at about Peter's age, the problem was not that Peter had a crush on his Math teacher. Miss O'Hara long since left to marry Wes Parker, and, yes, she had taught the whole junior high a couple years ago, including Marcia as well as Greg. That was back when the island population was smaller than it is now, although not as small as when we first arrived of course, and Mike and I taught our firstborn children together.

Anyway, these days, as I may've told you before, the senior and junior highs each have three teachers who each do at least two subjects for all three grades at their schools. So Peter's home-room teacher also teaches Math and Science. And he is not a gorgeous young redheaded woman but a stodgy older gentleman, who Marcia says makes jokes in Latin that no one gets. (Foreign languages aren't offered until high school on our island.)

Peter is intimidated by Mr. Price but he was able to bring his grades up, with help and encouragement from Mike. We are proud of him, but it would never have occurred to us to throw him a surprise party for that reason, since that would set a bad precedent with the other kids. Yes, we went ahead with the party he wanted to throw when becoming a hero for saving a little girl went to his head, but we felt he'd learned his lesson then.

Why now? Especially when it would seem to be rewarding him for eavesdropping on Greg and Marcia, after he'd apologized for taping them and the younger kids. I did know Peter had heard the tape, because that day he'd been dropping hints about gifts he'd like, even though his birthday's not any time soon, and we just had Christmas.

Mike and I talked it over on the way to Blenford. It was tempting to catch our flight and let the children work this out on their own, let Greg, Marcia, and Peter all learn their lessons. But we agreed that we would throw a party for Peter and teach a different lesson. We are the parents and it is up to us to decide rewards and punishments.

We went to the airport and arranged to fly out later. We went to different stores and bought gifts for Peter, most of which would be "from" Alice and the kids. We even got Peter his own tape recorder, so he could prove that he now knows how to use it responsibly. And then we headed home.

By then, Greg and Marcia had had time to feel guilty and apologize to Peter. He told them that he probably deserved it. So, yes, in a sense the kids did work things through, but Mike and I still went through with the party. We were able to talk to Greg and Marcia briefly, and I think we all feel better now.

Mike and I indeed flew out later and now we're at the ski lodge. I'm going to do my best to enjoy myself and not worry about the kids. But, yes, if there's an emergency, the Howells can help Alice contact us.