Oh that's right, I have a dog!

Bill and I watched “Marley & Me” last weekend. I have no idea why I wanted to watch it. I had started the book about a year ago and then stopped about half way through. I knew where this was going and I wanted no part of it. But for some reason I decided we would watch the movie. When the movie ended and I was bawling like a baby I looked over at Abby, my goofy yellow lab. The poor thing has really been put on the back burner for about five years. Abby enjoyed many great times before we had kids. We would take her into the woods and let her run free. She would jump into the dirtiest swamps and be so happy for the rest of the day. We both worked during the day so I took her to…and I can’t believe it now….doggy day care. I remember one day I went to drop Abby off at day care and the woman at the front desk said “It’s Fido’s birthday party today. Do you have a gift to drop off?”. I looked on the table behind her and saw that there were about 10 gifts WRAPPED already waiting for the big party. I felt a little pressured and said “no, but can I buy that chew toy on the wall and have it wrapped for him?” Oh yes, I did.

Abby adjusted really well to having a baby in the house. She immediately loved Catherine (even on the days we weren’t so sure about it) and enjoyed being fed from her plate. She has never been aggressive towards the kids (I have told them a million times that if I was a dog I would have bitten them by now with all the stuff they put her through). She is always a loving companion.

The point of this is that sometimes in the shuffle of having kids we forget about our little animal friends. Animals are a lot like kids but in some ways they are even better. An animal can always tell when you’ve had a hard day and will just lay quietly with you to snuggle. Try telling your kid you’ve had a hard day. Go ahead, try it. You will get no sympathy – just a request for a refill on the juice. I’m sure the memory of the movie will wear off but for now I am thinking about going home to play catch with Abby.

Yup, I'm "that mother".

A whole new world opened up for us when Catherine turned five. She suddenly was very well behaved at restaurants, had a lot more patience for waiting in lines, and can easily skip naps. Unfortunately, this whole new world is gone pretty quickly when you throw a 20 month old into the mix. Maddie has always been pretty good about most outings. Last week I took both girls to Wal-Mart. I love stores that you can buy milk, a screwdriver, and a t-shirt from. The outing started pretty good. The girls were being quiet while I flew around the store grabbing everything that I needed. Maddie started to screech a bit as I was trying to pick out a birthday card for my dad. I decided that I need to get her the sparkle ball from the toy section to play with. We have used this ball several times and it works like a charm. We just replace it before we leave. Her screech immediately turned into a giggle as I handed the ball to her. Magic!! Things were going well until she threw the ball down the hallmark isle. She started screaming at the top of her lungs “BALL BALL BALL”. The ball had landed near an elderly woman’s feet. She bent over to pick it up and hesitated. “It’s dirty”. I tried my best not to yell at her “oh, that’s okay.” “BALL BALL BALL BALL.” She continued to hesitate “will you wipe it off for her?” Are you kidding me, lady??!! Give me the damn thing. I don’t care if she licks it as long as she stops screaming!!!

I made the mistake of taking another shopping trip yesterday. This time it was food shopping. I only need a couple of things so I thought I should get out pretty easily. I grabbed my number at the deli - #17 – they were on #6. This is in the middle of the day on a Tuesday! I raced around the store grabbing everything that I needed and came back to the deli. Four more to go before my turn. Maddie started to get antsy again. She started pinching me and kicking me. I decided that I had no choice but to take her out of the carriage. This went okay for a few minutes. She stood quietly near me and held my hand. She was looking up at everyone to see who might comment on how cute she is. When she didn’t get the attention she expected she ran over to the hamburger buns in front of the deli case. If you happened to get a squished hamburger bun from Market Basket in Lowell, I sincerely apologize. We finished up at the deli and made our way to the checkout line. I had to take Maddie out of the carriage again because I was getting assaulted. She was keeping herself busy with taking the tubs of cotton candy off the shelves and putting them back. I thought this might entertain her but then she bolted! I had to chase her into the next checkout line. I noticed a little girl behind us and said to Maddie “look how good that little girl is being. She is so cute. Do you want to sit in your seat and look at her?” “YA!” Maddie said. Great! As I was putting Maddie back into the carriage I turned to the line of people behind me and said “PLEASE just entertain her until I’m finished here!!”. They all laughed at me. Oh, she’s so funny….that crazy lady….she has no control over her kids. Nope, I don’t. Where was Catherine, you ask? Oh, she was sitting quietly in the back of the carriage watching the show. Let’s see….when Maddie is five Catherine will be 9. Four more years and we can shop ‘till we drop!