Welcome home (sort of) Bode Burns
Okay, so when your husband comes home and says, "Let's get a dog," and he's THIS cute, and so is your husband, AND you have a 2 1/2 year old son, try your very hardest to look past the puppy's droopy eyes, the extra skin, the mammoth paws, and the puppy breath. The shit is HARD. There ain't two ways around it. The feeding is the least of our responsibilities, and frankly, my main squeeze is doing most of the dirty work, but, and there's a HUGE but...when said hubby is employed out of the state, even worse, in HAWAII, that's when the hard work and regret sets in. Well, work is work, so my man packed up his surf board and headed off for an 8 day job in Oahu, working 2, surfing 6. Now, I know these are first world problems, but I had family visiting, no preschool for Henry, our nanny on vacation, pink eye on the kid, and a 3 month old puppy. As my people say, "oy vey." At one point, on the phone with Jere in Hawaii, in the midst of bathing, chasing, and feeding in the evening, he says to his bartender, "Could I get another chunk of pineapple, please?" Really? Needless to say, when my tanned, rested hubby came home and picked up mucho household slack, for a full day at least, I was haggard. In my kooky stupor, I could have sworn I heard him sigh deeply when having to take Bode for a walk in the rain. I figured, here's my opening:
Int. Kitchen. Day.
Me
Honey, are you regretting this decision?
Hubby
What decision?
Me
Oh, I thought you were really frustrated with Bode, and if you are...
Hubby
What are you talking about?
Me
I don't know, if you think we got a dog too soon...
Hubby
Yeah?
Me
Well, there are ways to rectify the situation if we maybe jumped the gun, with Henry being so young and all...
Hubby
(Long pause) Are you asking me if I could get rid of a member of our family?!
Me
What? No, no way, I just thought... Never mind. Me too, ME TOO! Bode and Henry are totally brothers!
Listen, I'm embarrassed I could have such thoughts. I consider myself an extreme dog-loving person. A person who has lived with many dogs, and lost them all eventually, obviously, and I wouldn't trade those relationships for anything. But in a moment when your house feels like it's swallowing you whole, you're slipping in dog pee every five minutes, and all you want is to be alone with your son, bathing him, all eyes on him, you kind of lose your mind. At least I did.
Right now Bode is lying on my lap, dreaming of chasing something, and it feels amazing. I know my son and he will have an incredible relationship for a good, long time, and yes, so will Bode and I. Like Jere said, a member of our family.
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| My rain-loving boys |
You are funny...
ReplyDeleteNow, throw another kid into the mix. Or if you're my brother 3 more and a cat.
Good luck! And hide your nice shoes asap!
Keep repeating all those nice dog-as-family thoughts. One day you'll mean 'em!!!! Just kidding. Ish. I love my dawgie...but mostly bc someone else takes care of him while I take care of the rest of the brood.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could post a picture of Cooper, my Vizsla. He is sleeping soundly as I write this . . . His body is twitching like he is chasing rabbits. Get through the first year. And watch that tail on New Years! Put your "beverage" glasses in the middle of the table. That wagging tail of Cooper has made many red stains on the carpet! Happy New Year! Jim Joyce
ReplyDelete"Well, there are ways to rectify the situation if we maybe jumped the gun, with Henry being so young and all..."
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're getting ready to send Henry to a farm upstate.
The feelings you are expressing about how Bode takes you away from Henry is EXACTLY what Meghan went through when Ian was born. She just wanted that precious time she had with Lily back.
Luckily, I was in a blackout so I have no feelings about it.
Ha! I'm hesitant to have children for fear of them taking me away from my pup!
ReplyDelete