History WMG / TheBabySittersClub

* As for the rest of it, an affair is one possible explanation, but the divorce was actually not a particularly acrimonious one. There's tension after the fact, but it's not particularly nasty even compared to other examples in the series (the Barretts, Stacey's parents, etc.), and the worst of it seems to come out in situations that are already stressful in other ways which could explain why things get heated. Also, while the divorce seemed abrupt to Karen, it's entirely possible that there were actually ongoing problems that the parents hid from the kids, particularly given that Karen was only about five or six and might not pick up on some of the more subtle indicators of trouble. An alternate explanation could be that Seth and Lisa's friendship started off innocent, but that Lisa was having issues with Watson in other ways, and the combination of all of this caused her to develop feelings for Seth; this could have even been the thing that made Lisa realize that they weren't going to be able to save the marriage. And even if nothing happened between Lisa and Seth until the divorce was final, her immediately getting together with her "friend" would still likely wound Watson's pride, as it suggests Lisa essentially left him for Seth, which could contribute to why things are strained between them, especially at the beginning. (A more benign situation would also explain why they're able to get to a point of cooperating better later in the ''Little Sister'' series -- that certainly comes a lot easier if she didn't actually wrong him.)

** None of the custody changes are initiated by Watson, though. The first one (going from every other weekend to alternating months) was because Karen and (to a lesser degree) Andrew were upset at how little time they got to spend with their father's family and basically begged for an equal split. The six-month chunk was a one time thing because Seth temporarily had to relocate out of state for work, so switching off every month wouldn't be feasible (the kids couldn't very well switch back and forth between schools every month), and the original arrangement in that situation actually favored Seth and Lisa, as the plan was that the kids would move with them, while Watson would go back to having only weekend visits until they got back and the previous arrangement could be restored. Watson does end up getting primary custody of Karen for the six months in the end, but that's only because she developed such severe homesickness (almost bordering on depression) that her parents realized the situation wasn't tenable, and Andrew ''does'' end up staying with Seth and Lisa for the duration. So that definitely had nothing to do with whatever happened between Watson and Lisa.
** As for the rest of it, an affair is one possible explanation, but the divorce was actually not a particularly acrimonious one. There's tension after the fact, but it's not particularly nasty even compared to other examples in the series (the Barretts, Stacey's parents, etc.), and the worst of it seems to come out in situations that are already stressful in other ways which could explain why things get heated. Also, while the divorce seemed abrupt to Karen, it's entirely possible that there were actually ongoing problems that the parents hid from the kids, particularly given that Karen was only about five or six and might not pick up on some of the more subtle indicators of trouble. An alternate explanation could be that Seth and Lisa's friendship started off innocent, but that Lisa was having issues with Watson in other ways, and the combination of all of this caused her to develop feelings for Seth; this could have even been the thing that made Lisa realize that they weren't going to be able to save the marriage. And even if nothing happened between Lisa and Seth until the divorce was final, her immediately getting together with her "friend" would still likely wound Watson's pride, as it suggests Lisa essentially left him for Seth, which could contribute to why things are strained between them, especially at the beginning. (A more benign situation would also explain why they're able to get to a point of cooperating better later in the ''Little Sister'' series -- that certainly comes a lot easier if she didn't actually wrong him.)

* Alternatively, it could be that one or both of them doesn't ''want'' to have children in that relationship. As good as he is with Karen and Andrew, parenting a baby is different from raising an older kid, so maybe Seth doesn't want to have a baby, or maybe Lisa didn't want any more kids after Karen and Andrew and Seth was okay with that.

The whole adoption was a little fishy. It happened much more quickly than international adoptions usually do, there was no home visit from a social worker or anything, no visits by Watson and Elizabeth to Vietnam, just a "oh by the way, we're putting the kid on a plane like she's so much cargo." [[note]]International adoptions at the time might not involve a home visit, but they still wouldn't just put the kid on a plane to the US, even with an adult from the orphanage accompanying her or something -- the parents would have to go to Vietnam to get her.[[/note]] [[note]] Actually, at the time some international adoptions agencies did not require the parents to visit the country and did put children on planes accompanied by adults from the orphanage. They did require home visits, however.[[/note]]This all might make more sense if Emily was the result of an "indiscretion" on an Asian business trip, and Watson wasn't "adopting" her so much as he was providing the evidence for his paternity (at which point, since she's his kid, it's presumably much easier to claim her than it would be to adopt).
* There are also references in one of the "Little Sister" books to there being issues with adoption paperwork ''after'' Emily is already living with them, suggesting the adoption isn't quite final yet. This doesn't really make sense with how international adoptions work (the agency would probably make sure everything was in order before the child left the country), but ''would'' track with a second-parent adoption situation. (The Meta reason is likely the author getting mixed up between how things work for international adoptions and something like a domestic foster-to-adopt situation, where the child ''would'' be living with the parents before the adoption was finalized, but in-universe, who knows?)

** As for the rest of it, an affair is one possible explanation, but the divorce was actually not a particularly acrimonious one. There's tension after the fact, but it's not particularly nasty even compared to other examples in the series (the Barretts, Stacey's parents, etc.), and the worst of it seems to come out in situations that are already stressful in other ways which could explain why things get heated. Also, while the divorce seemed abrupt to Karen, it's entirely possible that there were actually ongoing problems that the parents hid from the kids, particularly given that Karen was only six and might not pick up on some of the more subtle indicators of trouble. An alternate explanation could be that Seth and Lisa's friendship started off innocent, but that Lisa was having issues with Watson in other ways, and the combination of all of this caused her to develop feelings for Seth; this could have even been the thing that made Lisa realize that they weren't going to be able to save the marriage. And even if nothing happened between Lisa and Seth until the divorce was final, her immediately getting together with her "friend" would still likely wound Watson's pride, as it suggests Lisa essentially left him for Seth, which could contribute to why things are strained between them, especially at the beginning. (A more benign situation would also explain why they're able to get to a point of cooperating better later in the ''Little Sister'' series -- that certainly comes a lot easier if she didn't actually wrong him.)

** As for the rest of it, an affair is one possible explanation, but the divorce was actually not a particularly acrimonious one. There's tension after the fact, but it's not particularly nasty even compared to other examples in the series (the Barretts, Stacey's parents, etc.), and the worst of it seems to come out in situations that are already stressful in other ways which could explain why things get heated. Also, while the divorce seemed abrupt to Karen, she's pretty young, so it's entirely possible that there were actually ongoing problems that they hid from the kids. An alternate explanation could be that Seth and Lisa's friendship started off innocent, but that Lisa was having issues with Watson in other ways, and the combination of all of this caused her to develop feelings for Seth; this could have even been the thing that made Lisa realize that they weren't going to be able to save the marriage. And even if nothing happened between Lisa and Seth until the divorce was final, her immediately getting together with her "friend" would still likely wound Watson's pride, as it suggests Lisa essentially left him for Seth, which could contribute to why things are strained between them, especially at the beginning. (A more benign situation would also explain why they're able to get to a point of cooperating better later in the ''Little Sister'' series -- that certainly comes a lot easier if she didn't actually wrong him.)

** As for the rest of it, an affair is one possible explanation, but the divorce was actually not a particularly acrimonious one. There's tension after the fact, but it's not particularly nasty even compared to other examples in the series (the Barretts, Stacey's parents, etc.), and the worst of it seems to come out in situations that are already stressful in other ways which could explain why things get heated. Also, while the divorce seemed abrupt to Karen, she's pretty young, so it's entirely possible that there were actually ongoing problems that they hid from the kids. An alternate explanation could be that Seth and Lisa's friendship started off innocent, but that Lisa was having issues with Watson in other ways, and the combination of all of this caused her to develop feelings for Seth; this could have even been the thing that made Lisa realize that they weren't going to be able to save the marriage. And even if nothing happened between Lisa and Seth until the divorce was final, her immediately getting together with her "friend" would still likely wound Watson's pride, as it suggests Lisa essentially left him for Seth, which could contribute to why things are strained between them, especially at the beginning. (A more benign situation would also explain why they're able to get to a point of cooperating better later in the ''Little Sister'' series -- that certainly comes a lot easier if no one did anything ''to'' anyone else.)

** As for the rest of it, an affair is one possible explanation, but the divorce was actually not a particularly acrimonious one (and may not have been as abrupt as it seemed to Karen; it's entirely possible something was actually brewing for a while that they hid from the kids). An alternate explanation could be that Seth and Lisa's friendship started off innocent, but that Lisa was having issues with Watson in other ways, and the combination of all of this caused her to develop feelings for Seth. Potentially this could have even been the thing that made her realize the marriage wasn't viable. And even if nothing happened between Lisa and Seth until the divorce was final, having Lisa essentially leave him for another man would still likely wound Watson's pride, which could be why things are strained between them, especially at the beginning. (A more benign situation would also explain why they're able to get to a point of cooperating better in the ''Little Sister'' series -- that certainly comes a lot easier if no one did anything ''to'' anyone else.)

** Alternatively, it could be that one or both of them doesn't ''want'' to have children in that relationship. As good as he is with Karen and Andrew, parenting a baby is different from raising an older kid, so maybe Seth doesn't feel like he wants to deal with a baby, or maybe Lisa didn't want any more kids after Karen and Andrew.

** As for the rest of it, an affair is one possible explanation, but the divorce was actually not a particularly acrimonious one (and may not have been as abrupt as it seemed to Karen; it's entirely possible something was actually brewing for a while that they hid from the kids). An alternate explanation could be that Seth and Lisa's friendship started off innocent, but that with Lisa's marriage already potentially strained, she and Seth started catching feelings for each other, and that as a result they got together as soon as Lisa's divorce was final.

** When it comes to things like class vocabulary words (as opposed to just writing in the club notebook or the like), another piece of it is that she doesn't do the assignments that are meant to teach her the words (for instance, in ''Claudia and the New Girl'', she has ''no idea'' how the word "pharaoh" is spelled because she didn't do her reading the night before; had she done the reading, while she might still not have gotten it exactly right, she likely would have at least picked up on the fact that the word starts with a P rather than an F). A lot of kids with ADHD have difficulty completing all of their out-of-class assignments, either because they have trouble keeping track of all of what was assigned or because they become overwhelmed and struggle to get everything done in a limited time. In fact, in a later book, Claudia mentions that her family has since instituted a rule where a family member has to help her with her homework every night, which could well be as much about making sure she ''actually does it'' as about helping her get the right answers.

** When it comes to things like class vocabulary words (as opposed to just writing in the club notebook or the like), another piece of it is that she doesn't do the assignments that are meant to teach her the words (for instance, in ''Claudia and the New Girl'', she has ''no idea'' how the word "pharaoh" is spelled because she didn't do her reading the night before; had she done the reading, while she might still not have gotten it exactly right, she likely would have at least picked up on the fact that the word starts with a P rather than an F). A lot of kids with ADHD have difficulty completing all of their out-of-class assignments, either because they have trouble keeping track of all of what was assigned or because they become overwhelmed and struggle to get everything done in a limited time.

* YMMV, but dyslexia actually doesn't seem to fit very well with Claudia's particular difficulties. Dyslexia isn't just having problems spelling, it's a specific set of difficulties in which a person's brain has difficulty connecting written letters and words with their phonetic sounds, as well as perceptual issues when looking at words. First of all, if this was Claudia's problem, she should have as much difficulty reading as she does writing, but that doesn't seem to be the case, she just has trouble staying interested in reading things that don't interest her (but she ''does'' like reading things that ''do'' interest her, which is the major piece here). Secondly, while Claudia's spelling is atrocious, it's not the kind of bad spelling that's typical of dyslexia because her misspellings are always phonetically correct and in fact are sometimes based on Claudia guessing at spelling based on phonetics (i.e. "farrow" for "pharaoh" at one point), which is the exact thing that people with dyslexia struggle with. Some type of learning disability seems likely, but it probably isn't dyslexia. Similarly, dysgraphia also doesn't really fit, as this would also affect her ability to draw and paint, which clearly isn't an issue for her. Furthermore, a couple of books from her POV indicate that she often just doesn't know how words are spelled in the first place, which isn't really how dyslexia or dysgraphia work. (Dyscalculia ''is'' possible and could explain why math is especially hard for her even compared to other subjects, but her spelling and other academic difficulties are probably something else entirely.)

* YMMV, but dyslexia actually doesn't seem to fit very well with Claudia's particular difficulties. Dyslexia isn't just having problems spelling, it's a specific set of difficulties in which a person's brain has difficulty connecting written letters and words with their phonetic sounds, as well as perceptual issues with interpreting written words. First of all, if this was Claudia's problem, she should have as much difficulty reading as she does writing, but that doesn't seem to be the case, she just has trouble staying interested in reading things that don't interest her (but she ''does'' like reading things that ''do'' interest her, which is the major piece here). Secondly, while Claudia's spelling is atrocious, it's not the kind of bad spelling that's typical of dyslexia because her misspellings are always phonetically correct and in fact are sometimes based on Claudia guessing at spelling based on phonetics (i.e. "farrow" for "pharaoh" at one point), which is the exact thing that people with dyslexia struggle with. Some type of learning disability seems likely, but it probably isn't dyslexia. Similarly, dysgraphia also doesn't really fit, as this would also affect her ability to draw and paint, which clearly isn't an issue for her. Furthermore, a couple of books from her POV indicate that she often just doesn't know how words are spelled in the first place, which isn't really how dyslexia or dysgraphia work. (Dyscalculia ''is'' possible and could explain why math is especially hard for her even compared to other subjects, but her spelling and other academic difficulties are probably something else entirely.)

* YMMV, but dyslexia actually doesn't seem to fit very well with Claudia's particular difficulties. Dyslexia isn't just having problems spelling, it's a specific set of difficulties in which a person's brain has difficulty connecting written letters and words with their phonetic sounds. First of all, if this was Claudia's problem, she should have as much difficulty reading as she does writing, but that doesn't seem to be the case, she just has trouble staying interested in reading things that don't interest her (but she ''does'' like reading things that ''do'' interest her, which is the major piece here). Secondly, while Claudia's spelling is atrocious, it's not the kind of bad spelling that's typical of dyslexia because her misspellings are always phonetically correct and in fact are sometimes based on Claudia guessing at spelling based on phonetics (i.e. "farrow" for "pharaoh" at one point), which is the exact thing that people with dyslexia struggle with. Some type of learning disability seems likely, but it probably isn't dyslexia. Similarly, dysgraphia also doesn't really fit, as this would also affect her ability to draw and paint, which clearly isn't an issue for her. Furthermore, a couple of books from her POV indicate that she often just doesn't know how words are spelled in the first place, which isn't really how dyslexia or dysgraphia work. (Dyscalculia ''is'' possible and could explain why math is especially hard for her even compared to other subjects, but her spelling and other academic difficulties are probably something else entirely.)

* In ''Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout'', she makes a mention (in a dream, but presumably based in reality) about having remembered her book "today". Just struggling with the material wouldn't explain repeatedly forgetting textbooks and the like, but more general difficulties with organization and forgetfulness would.

** When it comes to things like class vocabulary words (as opposed to just writing in the club notebook or the like), another piece of it is that she doesn't do the assignments that are meant to teach her the words (for instance, in ''Claudia and the New Girl'', she has ''no idea'' how the word "pharaoh" is spelled because she didn't do her reading the night before; had she done the reading, while she might still not have gotten it exactly right, she likely would have at least picked up on the fact that the word starts with a P rather than an F). A lot of kids with ADHD have difficulty completing all of their out-of-class assignments, either because they don't remember all of what was assigned or because they become overwhelmed and struggle to get everything done in a limited time.

** When it comes to things like class vocabulary words (as opposed to just writing in the club notebook or the like), another piece of it is that she forgets to do the assignments that are meant to teach her the words. For instance, in ''Claudia and the New Girl'', she has ''no idea'' how the word "pharaoh" is spelled because she didn't do her reading the night before; had she done the reading, while she might still not have gotten it exactly right, she likely would have at least picked up on the fact that the word starts with a P rather than an F.

** When it comes to things like class vocabulary words (as opposed to just writing in the club notebook or the like), another piece of it is that she forgets to do the assignments that are meant to teach her the words. For instance, in ''Claudia and the New Girl'', she has ''no idea'' how the word "pharaoh" is spelled because she didn't do her reading the night before; had she done the reading, while she might still not have gotten it exactly right, she likely would have at least picked up on the fact that the word starts with a P, not an F.

** When it comes to things like class vocabulary words (as opposed to just writing in the club notebook or the like), another piece of it is that she forgets to do the assignments that are meant to teach her the words; for instance, in ''Claudia and the New Girl'', she has ''no idea'' how the word "pharaoh" is spelled because she didn't do her reading the night before; had she done the reading, she would have probably at least picked up on the fact that, for instance, the word starts with a P, not an F.

** When it comes to things like class vocabulary words (as opposed to just writing in the club notebook or the like), another piece of it is that she forgets to do the assignments that would help her learn; for instance, in ''Claudia and the New Girl'', she has ''no idea'' how the word "pharaoh" is spelled because she didn't do her reading the night before; had she done the reading, she would have probably at least picked up on the fact that, for instance, the word starts with a P, not an F.

* YMMV, but dyslexia actually doesn't seem to fit very well with Claudia's particular difficulties. Dyslexia isn't just having problems spelling, it's a specific set of difficulties in which a person's brain has difficulty connecting written letters and words with their phonetic sounds. First of all, if this was Claudia's problem, she should have as much difficulty reading as she does writing, but that doesn't seem to be the case, she just has trouble staying interested in reading things that don't interest her (but she ''does'' like reading things that ''do'' interest her, which is the major piece here). Secondly, while Claudia's spelling is atrocious, it's not the kind of bad spelling that's typical of dyslexia because her misspellings are always phonetically correct and in fact are sometimes based on Claudia guessing at spelling based on phonetics (i.e. "farrow" for "pharaoh" at one point), which is the exact thing that people with dyslexia struggle with. Some type of learning disability seems likely, but it probably isn't dyslexia. Similarly, dysgraphia also doesn't really fit: motor or spatial dysgraphia would also affect her ability to draw and paint, which clearly isn't an issue for her, and linguistic dysgraphia only affects written spelling and even then people with this condition will usually show a marked improvement when typing vs. hand-writing, but Claudia seems to have trouble spelling no matter how she's conveying the information, and a couple of books from her POV indicate that she sometimes just doesn't know how words are spelled in the first place. (Dyscalculia ''is'' possible and could explain why math is especially hard for her even compared to other subjects, but her spelling and other academic difficulties are probably something else entirely.)

Claudia's characterization is actually very typical of inattentive-type ADHD, especially the way it often presents in girls. Admittedly, her characterization changes over the course of the series, but if you follow the general arc (before {{Flanderization}} sets in), she's intelligent (it's mentioned that she has a high IQ) and capable of high achievement at times, but she's inconsistent, disorganized, and forgetful. Specific instances I can think of include:
* In ''Claudia and the Middle School Mystery'', she gets a good grade on a test by studying like crazy. This shows she is capable of learning the material, but it takes a level of effort that wouldn't be sustainable for every class all the time.

* The particular problems that Claudia has with spelling come across like she's guessing at spellings based on phonetics because she doesn't know or can't remember how those words are meant to be spelled. This is completely different from how dyslexia works (see notes under previous entry), but is consistent with difficulties in retaining information; ADHD has been linked to challenges related to short-term memory.

[[WMG: All the babysitters are [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya Haruhi-like]] [[AGodAmI gods]].]]

The whole adoption was a little fishy. It happened much more quickly than international adoptions usually do, there was no home visit from a social worker or anything, no visits by Watson and Elizabeth to Vietnam, just a "oh by the way, we're putting the kid on a plane like she's so much cargo." [[note]]International adoptions at the time might not involve a home visit, but they still wouldn't just put the kid on a plane to the US, even with an adult from the orphanage accompanying her or something -- the parents would have to go to Vietnam to get her.[[/note]] This all might make more sense if Emily was the result of an "indiscretion" on an Asian business trip, and Watson wasn't "adopting" her so much as he was providing the evidence for his paternity (at which point, since she's his kid, it's presumably much easier to claim her than it would be to adopt).

** As for the rest of it, an affair is one possible explanation, but the divorce was actually not a particularly acrimonious one (and may not have been as abrupt as it seemed to Karen; it's entirely possible something was actually brewing for a while that they hid from the kids). However, just because they weren't actually having an affair doesn't mean that they completely started from scratch after the divorce. Seth and Lisa could have started catching feelings for each other while Lisa was still married to Watson (especially if that marriage was already on the rocks) and then got together pretty much as soon as Lisa's divorce was final. Heck, maybe Lisa asked for the divorce because she realized she loved another man more than her own husband and didn't want to lead Watson on.

In one of Karen's books (I want to say it was the one where she writes her autobiography), it was mentioned that before her parents had a divorce, Seth would come by the Big House often when Watson was at work. Seth does carpentry/handyman work so it runs the theory that the reason why Lisa and Watson had such a sudden divorce and Lisa's very quick marriage to Seth might have been the result of Watson catching the affair. The very acrimonious divorce and custody switching constantly could very well be a form of Watson getting revenge for being cheated on since it went from him getting every other weekend to nearly every weekend to every other month to every ''six'' months (good thing this series runs on ComicBookTime).