21 May 2007

Is it a Dog or a Baby?

I am really enjoying having Bruno around. He truly is proving himself to be a great little dog. But I feel like I have an 18-month-old child instead of an 18-month-old pug.

First, we don't fully trust him to not make accidents in the house (mainly because he did this a couple of times and was about to do it a couple of other times), so we have to watch him constantly. This constant watching means C and I can't both leave the room at the same time. We can't go to the bathroom at the same time. We can't go into the spare bedroom at the same time. When we're in the kitchen at the same time, we feel like someone still has to keep an eye on him. And this constant watching is tiring.

Second, I'm worrying about him constantly. Last Thursday was the FHE-themed enrichment. C was asked to run the child care, so we were both out of the house. Away from the pug. On our first full day with him. I was totally distraught. The enrichment went long, and we didn't get home until nearly 9:00 p.m. I was sick the whole time. Was he alright? Did he think we abandoned him? Was he learning to resent us? Was he hungry or thirsty? Did he need to be let out to go to the bathroom? I will never say that my sister (or any new mom for that matter) is freaking out unnecessarily. I am learning that it's natural. I fully expect to do the same thing when it happens to me.


Third, I'm learning that it's much harder for the two of us to get out of the house together. To do so, we have to barricade the kitchen and confine him to the 8'x10' area. As he already spends our entire workday confined in this area, I am loathe to do it to him after we have come home from work. So now, I will go grocery shopping...alone. C will run to him parents' house...alone. And going for ice cream on a date is going to seem very exciting.

Fourth, I'm taking tons of pictures.



6 comments:

Todd said...

Sounds like good preparation for parenthood! At least a kid you can bring with you...

emily said...

i love it sister! i'm still laughing at you - and the pictures of course. welcome to parenthood. if you pay for my ticket i'll come out and babysit - for a whole weekend - so you and chuck can go out on a "date." :)

Camie said...

His tongue is killing me. Maybe I should drive the long mile to your house and check him out in person sometime...

erinmalia said...

camie...you're welcome anytime. i certainly don't want to push dog-liking on anyone (that includes g), but if you want to visit, we'd love to have you.

Niederfam said...

I can SEE the similarities.........between parenting and dog ownership.....it's rather uncanny don't you think???

erinmalia said...

um, yeah, uncanny or totally frightening as i'm not sure i can handle this with kids as i think it would be these feelings times 10. oh my.