When is it ever a good time to get a pet?
My husband and I have three small(ish) children. Graham is six, Nathan is four and Emily is two. My husband and I are both self-employed and work both in and out of the house. We trade off parenting duties; if I have work to do he watches the kids, and vice versa.
In addition to three kids we have a cat, chickens and a Beta fish that I've managed to keep alive by some strange fluke. Our house is full (also, LOUD) and our lives are busy with all that we do.
For many (MANY) months my husband kept telling me that we should get a puppy. The kids love dogs and get beyond excited when they see one at the park or the lake. I, being the voice of reason in our house, said ABSOLUTELY NOT. Puppies are like newborns and I have been there, done that. I love babies and all but I am so done with the newborn stage. I told him that I might consider us getting a dog if we could adopt an older one.
For about six months he scoured every ad source he could and every older dog that was up for adoption came with this warning: "Not good with children." That's kind of a deal breaker, what with the fact that we have three of them.
Two months ago he emailed me at work with the subject line, "SO CUTE." I clicked on the link he sent me and was confronted with some ridiculously adorable puppies. I let out a big, fat, sigh.
I picked up the phone, and when he answered I simply said, "FINE." I told him that he would be the one to get up in the night and to take the lead in all of the training. It was a deal.
This past Friday we picked up the newest member of our family and have been getting to know him. I am feeling more overwhelmed than usual, but I know that it will be worth it in the end. My husband and I both have fond memories of growing up with pet dogs, and we want the same for our children. I don't know if there is ever a "perfect" time to do get a puppy, so why not now?
We just need to get through the CRAZY CHEWING PEEING NIPPING DOWNRIGHT ANNOYING phase before I will be completely convinced that this was a good idea.
