Skip to main content

rough start

pic of the day
"... and then my mommy strapped me in
my carseat and disappeared for 20
minutes while i screamed for her."

we had a great weekend with buddy. he is definitely a fearful dog - he did a fair amount of barking at my husband, as it seems that men particularly scare him. but he's made some progress, and we're ready to be patient so we can persuade him that he has, in fact, found his forever home.

never underestimate, however, the chaos associated with adding another member to your family.

at 7:30 this morning, i was very proud of myself: john was dressed and ready for school, i was dressed and ready for work, buddy had had a walk first thing, my schlew of bags was packed and ready to load into the car so we could get this monday started.

and then. (isn't there always an and then?)

as i put on my shoes, john was crawling around our bedroom and knocked over a canoe paddle propped against the wall. big boom, etc.

poor buddy peed all over the living room floor.

"oh, buddy, it's ok," i said as rubbed his chest and cleaned up the mess. really, i don't mind - it's all part of the process.

when buddy had calmed down a bit, i let him in the backyard for one more run around before he spent his first day home alone. while he was outside, i loaded my still-smiling baby boy into his carseat and loaded the bags into the car.

then i went to the open back door to call buddy inside ... and he was having none of it. he planted his butt in the grass near the back fence and made it very clear he was coming nowhere near this horrid house of loud noises.

cue screaming baby, angry to have been left in his car seat.

i got buddy's leash, figuring i could walk him around the yard and then inside. so i walked him around the yard ... for 20 minutes. (baby still screaming bloody murder. oh don't worry, i checked on him every several minutes and nothing was wrong. he was just mad to be strapped in.)

20 minutes later, i *had* to leave. i was already so late for work. so ... i dragged buddy inside.

this is probably the worst thing you can do to a fearful dog.

then i got in the car with my screaming child and cried my way to work.

here's hoping day 2 goes a little smoother.

p.s. i did go home at lunch time to check on buddy, and we're friends again. he was terrified of me when i first got there, but quickly settled back in and hung out with me while i ate my lunch. i let him in the backyard with much trepidation, but i left the back door open and he came in on his own, and kissed my hand when i left. hopefully john will be as forgiving when i pick him up this evening!!

Comments

Kacie said…
"We're friends again.." haha love it

Popular posts from this blog

pull up your big boy undies

"what time is it? mommy? what oclock?" john's teacher told me something amazing today. "you should bring me some big boy undies," she said, "i haven't changed john in weeks." it seems that at school, since they check in with him periodically to see if he has to potty, and since his very smart teacher has noticed his (very regular) bowel movement schedule, john is potty trained. at 9am at 2pm, she plops him on the toilet. he might sit for 20 minutes, reading a book. when she checks on him, he says, "i just poo-pooin', miss meka." and when he's done, he's good and done. we're not quite that far along at home, but tonight we go shopping for big boy undies. and i'm sure we'll have a few accidents, but that's just a part of the process ... and soon my little boo will be in big boy undies full time. and ... it's a great time for him to be out of diapers. because good lord willing and the creek

i'm furberizing my baby

ok, let's get this straight right off the bat: i don't know if i am literally following dr. furber's methods of sleep training. there are so many versions out there. but saying we're furberizing john is WAY more fun than saying that i'm letting him cry his little lungs out in an attempt to teach him to sleep on his own. it's night two of our efforts. he went right to sleep last night, which was great. and he slept for 5.25 hours (!!!!) before waking up at 2:30 a.m. when he woke up crying, i let him cry for 5 minutes before going in to soothe him. (the soothing barely works at all, by the way, but it's what i'm supposed to do ...) then i let him cry for 10 more minutes before going in to soothe him again. next on the agenda was a 15 minute stretch of crying - but he fell asleep after 8 minutes. so a sum total of 22 minutes of crying. not too bad for night two. i've heard night three can be the worst ... so we'll hold on to our hats tonight. mean

on lullabies

i am not a singer. if you've sat behind me in church, you know this to be true. (and i'm sorry.) a musician, yes. a singer no. and yet i find myself singing to john almost nonstop. and the beauty is, he seems to actually like it! (there's no accounting for taste. he also thinks i'm the most beautiful woman in the world. i'm no ogre, but i'm certainly not winning any beauty contests outside of my son's brain!) and actually, i've written some lullabies for john that are pretty nice. and it made me think: did your parents sing to you? do you remember what they sang, and better yet, if you have kids, do you sing the same songs to them? reply in the comments!