After our little trip to Nashville and on to the mountains, life is settling a little. If I said back into the usual routine I would be telling a whopper! Instead of the pitter-patter of Old Girls’ feet following me in my morning routine like a well-worn slipper, I have a wild child zooming at 100 miles per hour until she winds down.
When my kids were little, it was hard not to cave on the small stuff, and a new puppy in the house brings back the same old difficulties of deciding when to let things go and when to put my foot down. So far, Winnie has stolen my heart to the point that she gets her way pretty often.
At this very moment she is sleeping in my lap, which makes it a little challenging to write on my laptop. Let’s just say my lap and life are very full at the moment, but I like it that way. My youngest, Ryan, watched Winnie while we were away for a few days. I was hoping that the worst of house training would be over when we returned home, but I think she regressed a bit.
After all Winnie is just a baby, and she was away from her normal routine so no biggie. I left her a little longer that usual the other day, and I thought we were going to have to call a HAZMAT team to clean up the bathroom! It seriously looked like a poop bomb had exploded!
We couldn’t get mad because she was obviously upset at being alone so I’m trying to start over and leave her for more brief periods of time. In her little puppy brain she doesn’t understand that her isolation is only temporary.
“Mike, what are we going to do about Winnie while we go to Hunter and Meghan’s wedding?”
“I don’t know. Do you think we could take her and leave her in the car in her carrier?”
“I think she might get too hot, and we would be worried about her the whole time. I guess we need to get a sitter.”
We fortunately were able to find someone responsible to sit with Winnie. We dressed for the evening and gave detailed instructions on when and what Winnie would eat and so forth.
We left her toys, and petted her goodbye. I almost felt like we were leaving a child.
A short drive to Hattiesburg later we arrived at the gorgeous wedding venue. The weather cooperated while the wedding party took their places.
All eyes turned to watch as the lovely bride entered on her proud father’s arm. All wedding are beautiful, but this one seemed especially lovely.
When we returned home Winnie was happy to see us, but she had had a good time with her sitter. She will soon be out of the puppy stage, but for right now she is pretty much running the show!