My Sister, My Sitter

"My Sister, My Sitter" is the seventeenth episode of Season 8. It is also the 170th episode overall.
==Synopsis==
Lisa decides to become a babysitter — and finds that her biggest challenge is her own brother, who she has to look after as Homer and Marge check out the new outdoor mall.
== Full Story ==
While watching tv, Marge and Homer find out that Squidport is reopening and they decide to make it a date. Meanwhile upstairs, Lisa and Janey are inspired by reading The Babysitters Club, Lisa decides to start a career in babysitting, even putting an ad in the church bulletin. At first she becomes concerned when no one calls on her to babysit. Her mother tells her the reasons people aren't hiring her is because they hire teenagers since they know what to do. Lisa tries to insist that she is more than capable of babysitting. Moments later Ned Flanders comes over and tells Homer that Maude and her mother are in a sticky situation and has to go to Capital City, so he asks Homer to watch the boys. Lisa however says that she could do it, and while he is hesitant, Ned lets Lisa watch the boys. After a successful babysitting night, Ned is impressed and recommends her to everyone. Soon she babysits Ralph and Doctor Hibbert's children. After many successful jobs, Homer and Marge decide leave Lisa in charge of Bart and Maggie while they are out at the Squidport opening, and even though Bart tries to protest, his parents will not budge. Bart becomes outraged with the proposition, so he plans to 'teach' Lisa a lesson that he is not so easy to babysit. First, he refuses to eat his dinner, next, he acts like a baby and eats food like one, causing Maggie to cry, so he feeds her ice cream with caffeine in it, causing her to run rampant in a hyper state. Then, he makes outrageous orders by phone, including a massive sandwich, hiring Krusty, and claiming Lisa saw a UFO leaving her to answer the door for each one. Lisa is finally outraged at Bart, when she finally orders him to go to bed, Bart goes to the kitchen and eats bread, claiming Lisa told him to go to bread. Lisa spells out what she meant making Bart go upstairs, at that point, Lisa is about ready to snap.
After looking into his room she finds him bouncing on their parents' bed claiming she wasn't specific. Furious and annoyed, Lisa starts chasing him around the house, and accidentally knocks him down the stairs, causing a large lump to form on Bart's head and giving him a dislocated arm. However, despite the dislocated arm, the bump on his head, and Lisa's insistence they need to go to the hospital, Bart continues to make baby-sitting hard for her. Bart locks himself in his room, preserving his injury to show their parents, and says that after their parents see him hurt, she'll never babysit them again. Soon he bangs his head against the door 'to make the lump bigger', causing him to fall unconscious.
Lisa considers calling Dr. Hibbert for help, but cannot as the 911 operators think that this is another prank. She realizes her reputation as a babysitter will be ruined - Lisa decides she must get Bart to a hospital without anyone knowing. She finds Dr. Nick's number in the phone book, and climbs into Bart's room via a tree to recover him. She pops him in a wheelbarrow, along with Maggie, locked in a pet cage to keep her stable.
At the emergency clinic, Lisa can't get Bart an appointment, so she plans to take her cargo to the hospital by foot. After avoiding discovery by Chief Wiggum, Bart falls out of the barrow, sliding down a muddy hill. Lisa follows with Maggie and the barrow, only to land in the mud. Seconds later a searchlight has turned on them, almost blinding her. She has ended up at the Squidport opening Marge and Homer were attending, along with many Springfield residents, Dr. Hibbert included. The panicked onlookers assume Bart is dead, Lisa is on drugs and Maggie was being taken to be drowned. This is quickly debunked by Hibbert and telling them that Lisa is a bad babysitter.
The next day Bart gets treated for his injuries, and after finding her upstairs in her room (presumably punished for the events) apologizes to Lisa for being a jerk and ruining her babysitting business. She later gets calls from Dr. Hibbert and Ned Flanders, asking her to babysit for them, despite her mishap with Bart and she smiles.
== Broadcast History ==
Broadcast Date(s)	Channel Aired
* March 2, 1997
* November 30, 1997	
== Reception ==
The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics, but mixed reviews from fans which would later become negative reviews. One of the main reasons it was hated was because of how cruel Bart is and that Lisa put her concern for her career before her concern for her brother's well being.
== Citations ==
fr:À bas la baby-sitter !
pl:My Sister, My Sitter
pt:Minha irmã, minha babá
Category:Lisa episodes
Category:Maggie episodes
Category:Bart episodes
Category:Kids episodes
Category:Bart vs. Lisa episodes
Category:Simpson Family Are Pariahs episodes
Category:Written by Dan Greaney
Category:Directed by Jim Reardon
Category:Poorly-received episodes
Category:Episodes where Maggie cries
Category:Controversial episodes
Category:Episodes with mixed reviews
Category:Dramatic episodes
Category:Sad episodes
Category:Hateful episodes