First mate's log:

March 9, 1973

Not only did Bobby try to rat out me and Peter about Marcia's accident (not that we expected to keep it a secret of course), he's finking on more of his brothers and sisters. I can see the thing with him reporting Cindy for running in the halls, since she was breaking one of the rules of their school. Now he's trying to be Safety Monitor at home.

Jan told me that he's keeping written reports on them. Hers is about how she didn't set the table and Alice had to do it. "He didn't even let me explain that I'd got permission from Mom because I had a test the next day."

And Greg told me that Bobby wouldn't let him explain when he came home after curfew. "I was out on a date."

"Oh. Well, you are seventeen."

"No, it wasn't like that. She forgot to bring her key, and her folks weren't home yet, so I didn't want her to wait outside all alone."

That made sense. Crime is still pretty low on our island, but there are still wild animals out there. Not that Greg could necessarily fight off, for instance, an angry gorilla, but at least he could help.

I think the only sibling Bobby hasn't told on is Marcia, but I hope he doesn't spill the beans to Charley before she gets up the courage to tell him about Doug.

Carol Brady's diary:

March 10, 1973

Marcia's nose is all better and she's going to keep her date to go to the Pizza Parlor with Charley tonight, after all. I hadn't even realized that she actually broke the date! No, not because of her nose, but because of another boy.

After Charley agreed to reschedule because of Alice's birthday, a handsome football player named Doug Simpson asked Marcia out. Obviously, I could understand the appeal, since I went with Tank Gates in high school. (And, yes, I did worry sometimes about Tank getting injured, but, as you can guess from his nickname, he was pretty invulnerable.)

I never dumped anyone for Tank though. And Marcia wasn't even honest with Charley. She told him that "something suddenly came up."

I couldn't help asking, "How did you come up with a rotten excuse like that?"

She mumbled, "Greg said that's how guys get out of dates."

I looked at Mike, who said, "I'll have a talk with him tomorrow."

Then Marcia told us that when Doug saw her swollen nose, he broke their date, with the same excuse. I don't want to say she deserved that, but I didn't have as much sympathy as I might've, because of poor Charley.

Mike said, "I think your real problem isn't a swollen nose. It's a bruised conscience."

Marcia did come clean with Charley, who forgave her. He really is a sweet boy.

March 11, 1973

Mary Ann told me she saw Marcia at the Pizza Parlor with Charley last night. Marcia's nose was all better and it looked like she and Charley were having a great time. Then Doug Simpson showed up.

I said, "That must've been awkward for everyone."

"Yeah, especially since Doug said, 'This is the guy you dumped me for?' "

"That's not fair. Marcia dumped Charley for Doug, and then Doug dumped her."

"And it's not like Marcia was actually either one's girlfriend."

"Well, yeah," I admitted.

"Anyway, the boys started arguing, so I had them take it outside."

Mary Ann understandably doesn't like fights, especially in her restaurant. And if necessary, Ugundi makes a good bouncer.

"Did they?"

"Yes, and Marcia went with them. Then Marcia and Charley came back in and finished their date."

I'm glad it worked out, but I wonder if Marcia talked them out of fighting or what happened. I guess I'll have to wait for Marcia or Charley to tell me.

March 12, 1973

We did the finishing touches on the bedroom today and it looks wonderful, although I wish we could keep going and paint the whole house. But Mike wouldn't stand for that much upheaval.

We will probably still see Charley, whether or not we order more supplies from his father. Marcia said she had a wonderful date with him on Saturday, although it was interrupted by Doug picking a fight with Charley. I felt sorry for Charley, since Doug is a football player, but Charley actually punched Doug in the nose! Yes, so now Doug is the one with a swollen nose.

March 13, 1973

Bobby told me he realizes he went overboard as Safety Monitor and he apologized to me and has apologized to his family. The funny thing is, this happened because yesterday he and the other Safety Monitors from earlier in the school year had to get their pictures taken as a group. So he got very dressed up and had to stay after school.

Then after that, he was on his way home when his classmate Jill asked for his help finding her cat, Pandora. The problem is, Pandora ran into the jungle! And not only was it dangerous to go after her, but Bobby was in his best clothes. But Jill was crying and pleading, so he felt sorry for her.

Luckily, the cat wasn't too deep in the jungle, and they found her after about fifteen minutes. But Bobby did get his clothes really dirty. And of course he was even later getting home from school.

Again luckily, no one was home when he got there. So he decided to wash the outfit and hope no one would ever know.

"Had you done your own laundry before?" I asked. I figured Alice mostly does it, but maybe the kids help out occasionally, like the time she sprained her ankle and Mrs. Brady was out of town.

"Well, no. I thought it would be easy, but I guess I put in too much detergent."

"How much?"

"Um, enough to fill the laundry room with suds."

I could picture it. "That sounds like a big mess. Well, a clean mess."

"It was. Then Mom and Alice came back from grocery shopping."

"That's good."

"Well, yeah, they saved me but I was hoping I could get away with it without anybody finding out."

I was starting to understand. "So that's why you feel different about being a Safety Monitor."

"Yeah, and I would quit, but I have only a few more days left."

"You might as well finish the week. You made a commitment."

He straightened his posture and said, "Yeah, it's my duty and I can't desert my post."

At least he has a better attitude than Peter did about Benedict Arnold, but I am glad he's going to ease up on everyone.

March 14, 1973

Spring Break is around the corner, so hopefully we can get a little break from all the craziness that school brings into my children's lives. Or maybe it's the craziness that they bring to their school activities.

Bobby got overzealous about being a Safety Monitor, even keeping a notebook on his siblings' misdeeds, or what he thought were misdeeds. But then when he got into big trouble himself, he realized he'd gone too far. As when Greg broke curfew slightly a few days ago because he was helping out his date, Bobby helped a friend find a missing cat. He was in his best outfit for a school picture, and it got very dirty in the jungle. But, unlike Greg telling me and Mike the next day about his curfew-breaking, Bobby tried to hide it by washing his outfit.

Unfortunately, neither Alice nor I ever explained to him how to do laundry. So we came home from the market to a mountain of Safe suds! (I resisted the "safety" pun, until now.) It's good thing we went to Garst's rather than Blenford Supermarket, since no one else was home yet.

Mike returned from a meeting with Mr. Howell by the time Bobby was dry and in his playclothes. Alice had dealt with the flooded laundry room, while I mopped the bubbles that made their way into her room and the kitchen. I quickly explained the situation to Mike.

The two of us sat Bobby down in the family room (where the suds luckily didn't reach) and had a talk. We helped him see that he had taken his position to an extreme, especially outside of school. And we told him the real reasons Greg and Jan "broke the rules." And, yes, we wanted Bobby to take the responsibility seriously, but as with Marcia becoming a diva actress, I'm afraid our kids are not good at moderation.