The Boy and the Dog.

When it comes to babies and dogs no one ever says, "Awwww, your Doberman will be SO GOOD when the baby arrives!" but the world raves about the Golden Retriever - baby combo. The boy and the dog have turned into quite a twosome and I would like to publicly thank our gold-hearted Golden for being the best, ok the only, babysitter I have.

I may have publicly proclaimed to hate the dog and it's not entirely untrue. I still want to punch him in the face at least twice a day, especially when he's using his giant nose to prod in places he shouldn't be prodding or leveraging his 110 pound frame to pull me and the stroller over to a delicious smelling pile of poo. But, good help is hard to find and as long as he is good to the boy, I can find it in my heart of stone to thank him.

He was the last of our household goods to arrive after spending the summer at camp, also known as my parents' house. When the boy and the dog last met, the boy was not as mobile or aggressive about getting to high interest, non-toy items like dustballs, shoes, and power cords.

After a cramped drive from NY, the dog had mixed emotions about finding himself in the number one position on this list. On one massive, ungroomed meathook of a paw, the boy he was bred to love only wants to be near him. On the other, said boy is 19 fierce pounds of pulling, chewing, biting, crawling, clambering, sweet destruction that 110 pounds of Golden Retriever was not bred to handle.

So T, even though I frequently tell you I am going to kill you, I want to hug you when I see the boy crawl your way with purpose and you don't move a whisker.  Maybe this is a survival instinct so I don't actually kill you or maybe you just crave some attention these days but, either way, keep this up and I'll keep feeding you.

Thank you for letting our inquisitive little boy have his sticky way with you while I get a moment to pour more coffee or shove string cheese in my mouth. Those 30 second snippets are a glorious eternity for me and, quite possibly, a painful one for you.

a day in the life of the boy and the dog

Thank you for sharing your dinner, being a patient first french kiss partner, not moving an inch when the boy grabs your upper lip and wonders why your teeth are so darn big, and enduring knobby little knees to the eyeballs and nose when he decides he's through and plows over you.

Even though we now love the boy more, we loved you first and you are paying it forward.  Thanks for loving and protecting, instead of mauling and eating, the boy who took your spot.

Don't go and get all self-important.  It's only shots like this that keep your room and board current:

the boy and the dog.  love.