From Tami: Family Pets

I was not an animal person for most of my life. I liked animals from a far, but I didn’t feel the need to have any in our home. I have allergies, I didn’t like pet hair on things, and I hated wet tongues and litterboxes. Basically, the idea of getting a pet was as pleasant to me as the idea of getting a root canal.

A funny thing happened though—a very sad, neglected dog found his way into my family. My daughter rescued him off the street, and when I saw his sweet, sad eyes, I told her that she had one week to find him a home. Two days into that week, I told her to stop looking, because I was in love. He was ours. No one was more shocked than me.

It hasn’t always been easy, bringing a rescue dog into our already-bursting family. He had a lot of anxiety from the neglect and abuse that he suffered, and would sometimes get overwhelmed when the kids would fight. He was skittish around guests, and got frightened whenever the noise level got too high (which is pretty much the baseline in our house). He has some breathing issues that get exacerbated when he is overweight, but the children try to sneak him table food anyway.

The kids used to argue about whose room he got to sleep in; now they argue about who takes next walk. We have a schedule, so it really shouldn’t be hard to figure that one out.

(Also, my grandson likes to try to eat his dog food, which is a whole ‘nother story. A gross one, I might add.)

But he is my baby, this puppy of ours. He cuddles up on my lap, follows me wherever I go, and likes to be held like a toddler. So although I have eleven wonderful kids in my life, I also have a furbaby—one who will never be a teenager, never develop an attitude, and never crash my car into the garage. I adore him.

Today’s post goes out to all of the Super-Moms—those with human children, those with furry children, and those with both. Whatever your family looks like, you are the glue that holds it all together.
And that’s why you’re a Super-Mom.

Tami