The Week of W(h)it: Take Two Jackos and Call Me in the Morning

Cari Dahl is my cousin, Whitney's friend, a world-class human being, and a frequent collaborator on So Dang Brilliant. I am writing this story about her to amuse and inform.

Jacko has always held a special place in Cari's heart. She is willing to go to great lengths to keep him happy, and he reciprocates by keeping her life interesting. Any time she comes to our house, he instantly requires something of her: eating cake with hats on, listening to a crazy story, dueling light sabers to the death.

Cari has been our recent go-to babysitter, as she is more local than our other choices and is generally a dreamboat. I worry that she grimaces every time she sees a text from either Caleb or me, potentially thinking, "Pleasepleaseplease don't ask me to babysit."

One evening last year, she responded to our bat-call and watched the kids while Caleb and I went...somewhere. I can't quite remember.

When Caleb and I returned home, we looked up at our apartment's windows and noticed that Lucy's room was lit. I said to Caleb, "Uh-oh, looks like Lucy's awake."

We climbed the stairs and opened the door, expecting a raucous nighttime scene.

Instead, we were greeted by a silent room and a babysitter on the computer. Cari greeted our surprised faces, and we tried to pick up our jaws off the floor.

I explained to Cari that we saw Lucy's light on and expected her to be giving Cari a hard time.

That was when the absurdity began.

Cari then explained to us that Jacko had helped Cari put Lucy to bed. She followed his instructions to the letter, even the directive that "Lucy likes to sleep with the light on." 

Enter forehead slap.

Lucy was, in fact, asleep. However, she fell asleep under duress, since she typically likes the darkest room possible in which to doze. I went down the hallway and flicked the light switch off.

Then, I turned around and asked Cari why she listened to a two-year-old.

"It's Jacko," she said, "I figured he knew what he was talking about."

The Week of W(h)it is a collection of funny stories about my friend Whitney Hardie and the people she knows. Whitney's mother recently died and this project is a way to help her grieve through humor.