Yesterday was a banner day for me. I wrote five articles for my new gig as a staff writer for several personal finance websites. I attended G's first parent/teacher conference at preschool. I managed to squeeze in a little "me" time during her evening dance class.
What I did not do is remember to take the dog outside. Not once.
Yes, I'm a bad, bad doggy mommy.
The truth is, our poor dog has slowly tumbled down my priority list. I remember vividly the final days of my first pregnancy, cuddling with my precious pup. "I'm not sure any baby can be cuter than this dog," I told my husband as I cooed at our first child.
How very wrong I was.
By the time my daughter was three seconds old, the dog was already second fiddle. When we brought G home from the hospital, we held her, fawned over her, baby-talked to her, ignoring the poor dog. We still allowed the dog (whose name is Ducky, by the say) to sleep on our bed, but even that right was removed when Baby C arrived two and a half years later.
These days, Ducky is lucky if she makes it outside before noon. My husband and I often turn to each other at 10 o'clock at night to ask if the other fed her dinner (usually the answer is no, with both of us assuming the other remembered). We've had to move her food and water bowls so often - away from G's and C's curious hands - that she sometimes forgets where they are anyway. We avoid taking her on walks - she's so unaccustomed to it that she drags us through the neighborhood as she pees every five steps, making it too much of a struggle when you've got two young children in tow.
The final blow? I even removed any mention of Ducky from the "About Me" section on my blog - an unintentional yet stinging slight.
When I hear an as-yet childless couple remark on the large place their pets occupy in their hearts and minds, I inwardly chuckle. If only they knew how far down the ladder their pups will fall once a baby arrives.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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I remember the same thing when I have my first child. My dog was my everything. Where child photograph's eventually replaced them, I had framed photos of my dog on my hallway walls. Where he once slept on my bed, he was moved to a dog bed. He never let me forget to feed him or take him out though. He was quite the spunky dog. He has since passed on to the Rainbow Bridge and we have new dogs now. It's easier when the kids get older to take care of animals and the kids. But the dog or dogs are never #1 anymore.
I am sooo with you except double the guilt as we have 2 lg labs. We taught our LO to not touch the doggie water and believe or not at 10 months he learned...Try to incorporate the pup into play time so it gets some attention. The dog loves you much more than you know!
When Bob comes home from work he asks me, "When was the last time Chewie went out?" and I usually reply "who?" or "we have a dog?" Poor Chewie.
Payton is 60lbs, so she is hard to ignore. She will put herself in your way at every turn. She was our spoiled only from pup rescue dog, of our 3 total rescues.
Hannah - she was old, gray, arthiric & doggie vicidin addictted Chessie. We put her to sleep at the guidance of our vet when J was exactly 1 month old. She had been in 3 dog fights with the other two since J came home & the last left her bloody. Our vet said at her age, health issues & our having a new born - it was time.
It was sad.
It was such a HUGE relief.
Then we had Fluffy. An unruly horrific dog that we accidently adopted from a family ready to dump him at the Humane Society. He was terrorized by the former family's 7 & 8 year olds. As a result, he grew to love us. He even loved J.
Until J was 2.5 & started doing all things 2.5 year olds do. Then instead of gently letting J know he was wrong - he climbed on the counter & peed on our fruit stand.
In.front.of.me.
Yep. Did not think twice when DH was able to find an unmarried, childless employee to adopt him.
He is thriving & I'm so relieved.
So of our 3, P is the only one standing. And she truly does get the wrong end of the stick when I'm super busy at work, and I have to give her credit. While she does make my life miserable if I forget to feed her, or let her potty (she would not think twice to stand on me at midnight & bark as loud as she can in my ear), she is the best snuggler in the world.
And she totally knows her place. Happily jumping off the bed in favor of the couch when J joins us in bed.
Oh, I cringe at the thought. Our beast has a ten-year advantage over the baking Grit (almost 11 by the time she arrives in June). I suppose it helps that now that we're living in the woods, we don't exactly have to take the dog -out-, so much as open the door. I suppose I'll hold my breath and see...
We are childless but our dogs (Dachshund and Pug) are already playing second fiddle to our business. BUT, they would never allow us to forget to feed them...they will even bring their bowls to us if they think we have forgotten. Yeah, if we ever have a kid, hopefully it will keep the dog entertained and vice versa...
PS So glad to have you as a staff writer!!!