Babies, Puppies -You say potAto(Long A), I say potAto(Short A)

These are my puppies. Snoopy is a German shepherd/basset hound mix. He's the good, obedient one. Although he has displayed some regressive behaviors with the introduction of Whitey, a puggle, and our new puppy. Whitey is trouble with a capital T. He's also a licker, which can sometimes be a little gross. Lucy is a beagle mix. She's the oldest of the three, and I'm sure it's only her old age and cranky disposition that cause her to be the quiet one.

It has been brought to my attention that I speak about my dogs, like say, oh a mother would speak of her children. It has been brought to my closer attention that when friends share their stories about their mischievous children, I interject with a story about my own, um, dogs.

I never noticed this until last week. A friend was mentioning how difficult her week had been since her husband was out of town. Her three year old son had managed to lock himself in his bedroom, and while she was trying to ghetto rig him out of there (the old hairpin in the keyhole trick), her one year old son had managed to climb onto the table, and once up on the table, decided to eat the decorative marbles in the flower arrangement. Needless to say, she was exhausted, flustered, and anxious for her husband to return.

Eager to commiserate, I told her what a challenge it is for me when J is out of town, which happens to be every Wednesday night. I told her, and again I was just sharing, that I couldn't control Whitey and Snoopy when J was gone. They spend each Wednesday night tearing around the house, looking for open doors so that they can steal a sock, or a slipper, or a shoe, or a BRA, and start playing with it. I don't know what to do with myself. The neighbors must think I'm an abusive parent because I spend the whole evening shouting at the top of my lungs. Although, I would hope that my neighbors would know that I don't have children yet, and that if I did, Whitey would not be at the top of my baby names list. Anyway, after I shared my story, my other friend S looked at me in utter disbelief and said,

"I love how you compare your dogs to children!"

Oops! I never really noticed, but once she mentioned it, I realized I do it all the time! I love them like real babies! I wouldn't give them up for a million dollars! And, until my human babies come, these will do for now.

Oh, and this is the trouble Whitey got into as I was typing this post. How fun! Let's take everything out of mommy's school bag! That'll be a hoot!