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Full Moons and Safety Glass
Balancing money, time, self, and family
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Its a pony!
My two-year-old is terrified of dogs. Ter-ri-fied.
I feel horrible about this. I love dogs. My husband love dogs. We love dogs. Nonetheless, I feel responsible for her fear. Now, I have a dog. He is a cranky, crotchety, old wiener dog. He has stinky breath, a white face, and a bionic back. When he was three he developed a disc disease. So, ten years ago, UC Davis vet hospital removed most of his discs and, after two surgeries, $5,000 from my very lean I-just-started-working-for-real-like-a-grown-up bank account. He was never the same. He became crabby and mean. Wiener dogs aren’t like real dogs, anyway. They don’t capitulate. They don’t seek to please. They aren’t dopey, unconditional love dogs. No, they are more like cats. They primarily bond to one person. This meant my husband was out of luck. Instead of tail wagging greetings at the end of the day, my husband was rewarded with what became known in our house as “sh*ts of defiance”. The two of them were in a perpetual competition for alpha dog status. To this day, I’m not sure who won. After my oldest was born, the wiener dog got worse. Older. Crabbier. Presumably, in more pain. So after a couple of close calls, we decided when Carmen was born that we couldn’t risk it. We already knew that the wiener didn’t like to be beat over the head by a toddler armed with a remote control, so we had to find a solution. A solution known as moving to Grandma’s. This is not a euphemism. He actually moved to my mom’s. So, Carmen has grown up in a dogless house. This means she loves the neighbor’s cat who essentially lives on our deck, but is totally freaked out by dogs. Mostly big dogs. But, dogs in general. So, instead of a dog-loving easy going kid, I have someone who will grow up to be the weird cat lady at the end of the street. Her fear of dogs provides some minor challenges when we hang out with friends. Most of our friends love dogs. Most of them have dogs. Big dogs. Big dogs that, who through no fault of their own, get shut outside or in back bedrooms when we come to visit. This weekend we are going camping with friends. Both couples have, and will be bringing, their dogs. One is a big dopey, lovable lab. No problem. The other one is a giant, black, 140-pound Newfoundlander. She is also a big, dopey, lovable thing. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. And, in Carmen’s mind…clearly the antichrist. So, when we went to our friend’s this weekend to plan the camping details we decided we needed a plan. How were we going to get through the weekend without Carmen clinging to me the entire time? And, then, like a genius, the solution came to me. I told her the dog was a pony. I mean, really, she looks like a Shetland pony. I think it worked. At one point, she looked at me and said “I like the pony mommy, she’s funny”. 4 comments from 4 users
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posted by
crzkb
on Jul 23, 2008 at 09:07 AM
I love it!! Have a great time camping.
posted by
hmoeckli
on Jul 23, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Oh, that's fantastic! Good thinking. Em is the same way about dogs. The two girls will make quite the pair... posted by
creatress
on Jul 24, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Ok, when you die, you have to promise to donate your brain to science. I mean really, that's just BRILLIANT! That dog (if that is the dog in the pic), does look just like a pony!!! For the record, my son was terrified of dogs also. Then was bit by a huge dog (who belonged to a friend at their house) and was more terrified after that. We have two dogs. What cured him? Getting a dog (our big sweet calm dog). After being around our dog enough he decided not all dogs were "El Diablo" and relaxed. I'm sure this fear of dogs also won't last forever. If you do get a new one (which I know you want to) I would be VERY careful to get an older one that's great with kids. posted by
sydsmommy
on Jul 25, 2008 at 01:15 PM
Brilliant as usual! But I don't think Carmen will buy this for long.... She is too smart!
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