I swore we weren’t going to have another dog until we were completely done with diapers. A different kind of pet, maybe. Though we never seemed to find one that felt “right” so we remained pet-free.
Jeremy and I love dogs and the kids, particularly the 12 year old Storyteller, have been begging for a dog. I remained steadfast: absolutely no dog until we have no more diapers.
(holy freaking crap! As I write this the dog just scampered across
The floor to catapult herself onto the loveseat to peer out the window at some sound she heard but misjudged and landed on my computer resulting in a release about the stupid dog. Just keeping it real, as always.)
Obviously, I caved. So did Jeremy, in my defense. It was a combination of timing, weakness for dogs, children with bleeding hearts and pleading eyes, and a sweet woman with a cause that aligned with our passions but gone too often to give her dog the attention and space she deserved. One nondescript day we were at the park for art class and met a lady with a sweet almost 2 year old dog named Harriet Tubman in honor of the slavery fighting work of her nonprofit that pulls girls out of local sex trafficking rings (check out Elijah Rising) and the next day we had a dog. And 6 incredibly delighted children.
And yes, we still have one in diapers.
Harriet has been a wonderful addition to our family. She’sone of us, one of the girls. Patient but full of energy, she tolerates all the love showered on her quite well and quickly became protective of her new home. The love and loyalty is mutual and the girls have a new best friend.
~Jessica
Do you have a family pet? Why or why not? Did you while growing up?
I have a 2yr old 50lb English Springer Spaniel. She is a gem. My baby is 8 months old and Clover is her buddy. She lies by her nursery door while Sydney sleeps. She brings her dog toys when we get home. She licks her gently. I grew up with dogs and think its a great thing for kids to learn to love animals and have a buddy and a protector too.
We have a little 3yo 8lbs poodle mix that we can’t wait to introduce our new baby to in July. We’re pretty sure she’ll be a protective big fur sister to her little human sibling. She’s nothing but love and affection. We both had dogs in our lives growing up so we’re really excited to expand our family and grow the love and kisses.
Now if only we make a system to keep their toys separate we’ll be in business 🙂
We just had to put our 12 year old Rat Terrier down. One of the saddest days of my life… my one year old daughter kept looking for him. It was a week before she realized he wasn’t going to be sitting under her high chair or come bounding in to share my lap while she nursed. Still hurts to think about because that dreaded day was only 4 weeks ago. 🙁
What a wonderful way for her to come into your lives. I always grew up with animals around and now in my own home we are at 3 dogs 1 cat and one nearly seven month old baby, we are crazy. If I could do it over we’d have kept it to just a couple until our human family was complete as a couple of our animals have special needs. It’s a lot of hard work but our daughter already loves them and while we won’t be adding any more to the family for years, we are trying to give everyone the attention they need as things are. Your pooch is lucky to have so many children around to love on her.
I’ve had cats all my life. My parents had a cat when I was born, although she passed away before I was 1. When I was 3, we adopted a 3-year-old cat (Whiskers), who lived to be 16. During that 13-year span, we had 2 other cats. 4 years after we adopted Whiskers, we adopted Gretel, and in 2000, a neighbor found Rascal.
In the fall of ’02, Whiskers, Gretel, and Rascal all died within a few weeks of each other (Whiskers from old age/kidney failure, and Gretel and Rascal from coyote attacks.) We then moved into a new house, which sort of came with an outdoor cat, who we managed to coax inside and named Cleo. In the summer of ’03, we got Calvin from a friend, and in the fall of ’03, we found Gianni.
After I graduated high school in ’04, I moved to California, and went a year without having a cat, and I felt unsettled the entire time. In ’05, I adopted Pixie, and brought her back to Texas with me in ’08.
Gianni sadly died last month, but we still have Calvin and Pixie. We may get another cat at some point, but Calvin and Pixie generally don’t get along with other cats, so we’ll see.
We don’t at the moment unfortunately. I grew up with dogs and would love one, but at the moment I work full time away from home so it wouldn’t be fair. We also don’t have much of a yard. I would love my kids to have a pet to grow with, and I also appreciate how pets can help children learn about the cycle of life and death.
We have a Boxer and a Shitzu. Odd combination, right?
They adore their pint-sized humans. They handle the love, tackles, non-Mom approved treats, and kisses with style. Their favorite part of the day is when both kids are home and touching them.