Straightaway, Anne and her father set about arranging and tidying the place, while Anne's mother and Margot lie down on their beds, too tired and emotionally drained and miserable to help (July 9-10, 1942).
The process of settling in and arranging a daily routine takes up several pages of the diary. At first, the Franks are alone, and the strange situation strikes Anne as "more like being on vacation in a very peculiar boardinghouse" than like being in hiding (July 11, 1942). Fear is an ever-present reality, however, as Anne writes, "It is the silence that frightens me so in the evenings and at night . . . I can't tell you how oppressive it is never to be able to go outdoors. Also, I'm very afraid that we shall be discovered and be shot" (July 11, 1942).
Anne then describes her surroundings and the considerable precautions which the family must take not to be seen or heard by anyone other than their "protectors" — namely, the workers in the office downstairs.
The second family, the Van Daans arrive, bringing new faces into the little group but also new sources of irritation and conflict. Anne does not think very highly of young Peter Van Daan, who strikes her as being lazy, a hypochondriac, and boring. She is also shocked by the noisy quarrels between Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan, remarking rather self-righteously: "Mummy and Daddy would never dream of shouting at each other" (September 2, 1942).
Very perceptively, Anne describes the Van Daans' foibles and quirks. For example, Mrs. Van Daan is piqued that her dinner service — and not the Franks' — is put into communal use. Secretly, Anne knows, Mrs. Van Daan has removed three of her sheets from the collective linen cupboard. Mrs. Van Daan, who continually scolds Anne for her continuous chatter, also does her best to leave the washing up of the pots and pans for others to do (September 21, 1942). Mr. Van Daan tries to discipline Peter in a particularly overbearing way, but he is not very successful in this.
