Puppy Love
Plant. Pet. Baby. Despite being told a hundred times that caring for an animal does not prepare you for being in charge of a human life, I can’t seem to shake this pattern of progression from my mind. My stomach drops with guilt every time I stare at the remains of another browned houseplant. Overwater, underwater, too hot, too cold—how am I supposed to raise a child if I can’t keep a $1.99 fern from Kmart alive? For a long time I couldn’t shake the feeling that I would never be ready for kids.
So of course I hesitated when my husband suggested we add a puppy to our brand new family. And by “suggested” I mean he begged, pleaded, and bombarded me with Craigslist postings of homeless puppies until I agreed to consider it. But even as I tentatively agreed to look, I still had this nagging feeling. I still haven’t raised the plant! How can I care for the puppy?
And then we met Sophie. The moment I laid eyes on her furry, wiggly, four-legged body, the nagging thoughts in the back of my mind disappeared. Her brown puppy eyes stared into mine and the only thing I could think about was how much fun it would be to spend twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week with her.
Fast forward to now, twelve weeks after my first encounter with that canine bundle of joy. Has every moment with Sophie been as precious and cuddle-worthy as the first? Absolutely not. Puppies are hard work! I could never have planned for this amount of stress, frustration, and responsibility. Waking up two times a night every night straight for the first month to take her out to the bathroom was enough to make me reconsider the whole “having kids” thing all together. And yet, we’ve made it work. My husband and I have adjusted our schedules, reassessed our budget, and committed ourselves to raising this puppy the best way we know how. Which makes me think, maybe I never will be ready for a baby. The more I plan it out, the more impossible it seems to prepare for such a life-changing decision. And yet this whole experience with Sophie has made me confident that we can and we will make it work. It might be a few more years before that time comes, but the nagging thoughts of failure in the back of my mind are gone. No matter how many pieces of furniture Sophie chews up, I love her. And I will make sacrifices to see her happy. And now I’ve got to go save my leather purse from her ferocious puppy teeth.
Now that you know a little more about Sophie and me, stay tuned for future blogs about her crazy antics!
So what do you think, is "plant, pet, baby" the only way to go, or is it ok to shake it up a little bit? If you fail one step, does it mean you can't move on to the next? And most importantly, wouldn't you say they're ready for that third step? :) Leave your feedback in the comments!
I believe the first two steps show priority, responsibility and patience, which I believe are key growing characteristics in the biggest decision of them all...having a baby. My husband and I may have jumped the gun in the fact we got a puppy just 12 days before finding out we were pregnant. But I believe getting her was the best thing we could of done because we know now how to become flexible in our schedule to adapt to another living beings needs. We then decided to get a second dog, I know crazy, but trust me getting second dog that is much older was a blessing for us she has taught the puppy the rules of the house much more quicker then we could have. Gracie and Maddie have brought nothing but joy to our lives and we can't wait to see how they do with the next addition. I believe the steps are relevant but they don't really need to be accomplished in order if you want something bad enough you will make it work and will access you life and make the proper changes and choices to make it the best decision you have ever made.
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