Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day

“I would trust my baby with Amelia Bedelia before I trusted it with Carl.”

“Well… she does have opposable thumbs.”

Poor Kate has just survived the ordeal of solo parenting for around a month with a child not yet a year old and still not on solids. As such, I thought the time was right to spring upon her everyone’s favorite doggie babysitter, Carl. How would Kate react to Carl’s less than entirely 21st century appropriate babysitting techniques? Today, we discuss whether or not Kate had the strange new COVID version (the Cicada Variant!), whether or not the mother in this book is perfectly aware of what Carl is capable of (Kate makes a VERY strong case for believing that this is not the first time Carl has been placed in charge like this), why the baby lacks self-preservation skills, and more.

Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, PlayerFM, Audible, Amazon Music, or your preferred method of podcast selection.

Show Notes:

I tell you true: Carl truly was turned into an exhibit at The Rabbit hOle picture book museum in Kansas City.

This dedication is fascinating. What is “Ponies”? Why is it capitalized? Is Ponies a person? The mysteries abound.

The trenchcoat. The purple purse. The gloves. What precisely is it that mom does during the day? Is it spywork? It is, isn’t it?

Male dog or female dog? Male, folks. MALE.

Let us point out that Carl? He pulls this off. This is a good look for Carl.

There are so many possibilities with this image. Is Carl saving the baby or attempting to drown the baby? How did the baby even get in there. Did Carl place the baby in the water or did the baby place itself in there and Carl is just attempting to save it? And is Carl thinking, ‘I could… just walk away…”

Y’all know how Kate operates. This note on the fridge of the book struck us both as a bit on the odd side of things. “Ducks in the Pond” followed by numbers of some sort. Explanation, anyone?

This was my greatest fear for my children when they were small. Grapes. This is why you don’t put your dog in charge.

Y’all… what is up with the branding here?

This may be the saddest moment for Carl. He’s been working his butt off all day, and here we have this random street dog living its best life, getting love from Carl’s owner

Betsy Recommends: Project Hail Mary

Kate Recommends: Having survived one year of motherhood (without a Carl).

Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate