grandma gave us the movie "12 christmas dogs" and we watch it everyday. while holding our dogs. cuddled in blankets.
i told my friend at work about how they like to sit on the couch cuddling their stuffed dogs while watching this movie. she said, "i know you think that's really cute. but that's actually a really sad story. get your kids a damn dog!" that's why we're friends, she's so funny!
we have around....15 dogs in our house --30 if you count all the things piper thinks are dogs--and piper thinks they are all hers. somewhere along the way, levi & i started going along with this notion. even the 2 dogs that people brought levi in the hospital when he was born, have become pickles-property. i'm not sure how that happened.
ok....yeah. i am. we are both afraid of her. ok? i said it. we both let her have all the dogs because we don't want to deal with her wrath if we were caught holding/touching/or moving one of the dogs in our house.
for the most part levi deals pretty good with it. but after one too many times of finding him shedding some silent tears because he didn't have a dog to hold, i put my foot down.
i didn't put it down in the "you-have-to-share-the-dogs-with-your-brother!" way. i put it down in the, "i'm-going-to-target-and-buying-another-dog" sort of way. my excellence in parenting is astounding.
when i brought the new black dog in the house, (now known as "boone") an eerie silence came over the whole house. all eyes were on boone. i made a BIG deal about how this was LEVI'S dog. i pointed to the other 10-12 dogs that pickles had in her pockets, under her arms and in her shopping cart. i told her those were her dogs. and this ONE dog was levi's.
levi eagerly, hesistantly, reached out for boone. but kept his eyes on piper. waiting for her to pounce.
but she's way to clever for that. she's more of a "when-you-least-expect-it-expect-it" type girl.
so they settled in to watch the movie. after 30 minutes levi realized that he hadn't been creating art for a whole half hour and went back to his desk (read, loveseat & dining floor) leaving boone alone on the couch.
a few minutes later i felt some tapping on my tummy. piper. she had come over to where i was sitting at my desk, and was holding boone. smiling up at me.
"ohhh....piper, that is levi's dog."
quick look over to levi
he said, "it's ok pickles. you can hold him for a minute."
quick look back to me
"wow piper. you are a lucky girl. you have a brother who shares"
10 minutes later. more tapping on my tummy.
"mama. my doggie."
OH the struggle. my daughter only knows 5 words, but she just used them to make a 3-word sentence!! way to use your resources, i say. but how could i celebrate and cheer her right now? from a 1-year-old perspective, that would mean she had just won the rights to the new dog....
"that's levi's dog piper. and he's sharing with you right now."
sad eyes.
5mins later, tummy tapping
"mama. my doggie."
"still levi's dog baby. but you can hold him until levi wants him back."
sad eyes.
5 mins later, tummy tapping
"mama. my doggie." and so on and so on. seriously. for at least 30 minutes.
after awhile, i realized that i hadn't been tummy-tapped in the past 5 minutes. probably even 10 minutes. immediately i jumped up. that can only mean something bad.
i searched all the usual spots, calling her name. not there, no answer. walking in my bedroom i heard what i thought was a loud ticking. it was actually piper, on the far side of the bed, up in the very corner, kissing boone.
she didn't see me. i watched her hug and kiss that dog incessently. i suppose she could sense that the tides were shifting. that this dog wasn't going to be part of her possee. under her complete control. so she took him away to get all the loving in she could.
i saw it. this really IS sad. my daughter is hiding so she can kiss a stuffed dog. and i felt it. the first inkling of, well, maybe i should let them have a real dog..... but i shook it off. (see part about me being a pioneer woman)
aargh. why, WHY do these nuggets have to love dogs too much?? there just really isn't any more room in my guilt-bucket. how will i add, "never getting a dog" into an already bursting bag??....
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