"Strawberry's House Pest" is an episode of the first season of Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures.
Synopsis[]
When Strawberry offers to watch Jadeybug's cousins, her patience is pushed to its limits with their rude behavior as she tries to be the perfect hostess.
Summary[]
Strawberry is in the middle of practicing her newest song for the upcoming Cafe Cabaret night when Jadeybug suddenly comes in and asks for some tea. Noticing how nervous and jumpy she is, they make conversation after she prepares chamomile tea for her. With hesitation, Jadeybug explains that her cousins were "invited" for the week to come over. She isn't happy about having to tell them they can't come over since her guest room is being "painted," nor does she have the heart to tell them she doesn't want them to come.
Strawberry offers to let them stay at the Cafe while they visit, but Jadeybug tries to talk her out of it. She explains how poorly behaved they are but Strawberry refuses to listen. She's sure she can handle it, but just to make sure she decides to pay Blueberry's a visit to borrow a book on how to be the perfect host. The berry girls get an idea to hold a Welcome Tea Party for their guests at the Cafe and work on gifts for them.
Come day of their arrival, Jadeybug is surprised to see how much work they have put into this and attempts to say something- but hurriedly stops when the bus arrives and her cousins step out. Just as the berry girls and Berrykins arrive, Jadeybug goes to greet them but they ignore her to ask for food. Strawberry takes this time to introduce everyone to each other and mentions being their host during the stay. Kadiebug and Sadiebug not only hand the bags to her, but plenty of other things as well.
As they head back to Strawberry's she explains that the guest room on the upper floor of the Cafe is for them when not visiting Jadeybug. But they quickly inform her they don't plan on hanging out with their cousin if they can have food there. The others think this is a joke but Strawberry notices the lack of surprise coming from Jadeybug. However, she decides to give the younger ladybugs the benefit of the doubt.
Back at the Party, Kadiebug and Sadiebug decide to check out what they got in the giftbags and argue over who has the
better things while Mr. Longface pours them tea. Sadiebug suddenly demands for a straw while Kadiebug steals one from a nearby Berrykin and they start fighting over it as Strawberry insists they don't need straws for tea. Plum then reminds her that the book said one should tolerate their guests' quirks.
For a moment, peace floods the room after the straw the girls fought over breaks, but then they have a tea fight. Seeing this, Jadeybug admits how misbehaved her cousins are as she watches the Berrykins, influenced by the ladybugs, join in the food fight. Strawberry tries to stay positive though, so she refuses to give up.
The next day Strawberry goes to visit Orange to deliver some muffins with the twins behind her. But when they start
to act up she quickly leaves for Sweet Beats Studio, where everyone else is in the middle of practice.
Growing bored the twins decide to "Show their moves", with only Plum seemingly amused by it, suggesting that they do a comedy routine. After Strawberry gently warns her not to encourage them, the girls start talking over the situation, believing it's going too far. She doesn't believe the girls are bad, but they just took her bedroom instead of the newly-prepared guest room and didn't even ask first- she isn't sure what to think now.
After the twins accidentally knock over the curtain, everyone calls dance practice over for the time being. But while everyone is amused by the turn of events, Blueberry is beginning to find herself frustrated.
Soon Strawberry appears to be getting used to the twins, but to her shock she comes home to find mud all over her kitchen and finds the twins have also gone through her fridge and made a mess. She tells them to lend her a hand in cleaning, but once they refuse she sends them outside to allow her some peace to practice her song. But they overhear her and run inside, making too much noise in their attempts to "help her". She nearly snaps at them after forcing them to stop, but she quickly calms herself and tells them that she has a surprise for them. She doesn't want it to be ruined, so she had to quit.
It's then Mr. Longface shows up to see how she is doing, he offers to watch the cafe and the twins while Strawberry goes off to have some time for herself. She doesn't wish to inflict them onto him but he knows exactly what will happen and refuses to let her say no. Gratefully she accepts his offer, but promises not to take too long since the twins will most-likely cause problems, and she decides to unwind by reading a story to Pupcake and Custard. However, she worries about the cafe and gives up, unable to focus.
Unfortunately, she comes back to find Mr. Longface making a run for it and he warns her to be careful because the twins got butter on the floor and now it's slippery. Hesitantly she heads inside to find the juice machine overflowing, on top of the mess they made. Pushed to her limits, she kicks them out of her home and declares the cafe closed. Seeing how mad she is, the Berrykins -who got involved in the twins mess- apologize and offer to help her clean up later.
Kadiebug and Sadiebug feel no remorse as the juice and butter send them outside and they decide to leave when clean-up time arrives. However, the Berrykins do return as promised to lend a hand, followed by Blueberry, who suggests that Strawberry just sends the twins home. Strawberry, although frustrated, refuses to give up on them now and comes up with a new idea.
After cleaning, Strawberry sits the twins down and explains how unacceptable their behavior is. She tries to be nice about it, offering to give them another chance and even help them if they're willing to listen- but they accuse her of being rude and leave in a huff. They spend the following hour or so going to the other girls to ask them to stay while they will be there, but each girl ends up giving them excuse after excuse; which doesn't surprise them.
At this point Blueberry decides to be honest and admits that nobody is willing to give them a chance when the others show up suddenly. They admit to lying, because of how inconsiderate and rude the twins are. This appears to finally sink in for them.
Back at the Cafe, Jadeybug is trying to comfort the flustered Strawberry. She comments that Strawberry held out the longest out of everyone who has ever watched them, and was the first person to not kick them out so she should feel proud of herself. Suddenly the twins appear again, but this time apologize for their behavior. The girls are confused by their half-decent apology but Strawberry decides to let them stay again. She will also teach them good manners, on the condition that she also teach them how to sing. The twins agree to the term, albeit warning Strawberry that teaching them how to sing will be prove to be a challenge, since they sing pretty badly, to which Strawberry agrees.
By the time of events arrival, Strawberry ultimately proves successful in teaching the twins how to sing as she lets them perform with her.
Quotes[]
- Strawberry: (angrily) The café is closed!
Lessons[]
The twins learn that they should not take the kindness of others for granted, and they should be appreciative and respect their home and rules.
Meanwhile Strawberry learns that in her attempts to be a good host, she let the twins get away with unacceptable things out of concern. But after angrily telling them off, she realized that being a good host means that besides wanting to provide a comfortable home for someone, she should also make sure they aren't upsetting others and walking all over her.
Trivia[]
- This was Jadeybug's second major appearance in the series.
- Likewise, the twins are formally introduced in this episode.
- This is the first episode to show Strawberry getting angry at someone.
- This is the first time in the series the closing sequence featured music that isn't the opening theme.
External links[]
- Strawberry's House Pest at the Internet Movie Database