Yesterday, Angie was out running some errands, and I was home with the kids late in the afternoon. With the Super Bowl quickly approaching, the kids needed dinner. At about 5:45, I started preparing their leftover spaghetti. I shooed them into the family room with their sippy cups filled with their default drink -- Jay's with water and Danielle's with chocolate milk.
I heard them having a good time, which was of course an immediate alarm. I looked in the room to find Danielle with her back to the rear door and Jay facing her, standing on the coffee table, about half way across the room. The table was splattered with chocolate milk as was Danielle's chin. During the moment between when I looked and when I reacted, I realized what was going on. The kids were taking drinks from their cups then spitting across the room at one another. Two of the three of us thought that was a great idea.
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Mike: "Jay, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Jay: "A monster!"
Mike: "Danielle, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Danielle: "A monkey!"
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Last week, we brought the kids to my cousins' house -- Alan, Terri, Alyson, and Ross to visit their new little puppy, Paulie. The kids love nothing more than animals, so a new puppy is guaranteed fun.
A couple years ago, friends of ours (Dan and Kim) brought their kids over to visit us. They have twins girls about 3 years older than ours and a boy, about Danielle and Jay’s age. When their girls saw Dixie, they immediately went to work. Dixie can overwhelm most adults -- she craves attention when people visit. She must be pet; there's simply no way around it. She absolutely loves people, and she demands a certain amount of attention when people visit. She will love a visitor, whether they want to be loved or not.
The visiting twin girls wanted the love. They immediately pet and chased Dixie and were utterly up to the task. For an hour or more, they were as energetic and motivated as Dixie. Then Dixie got tired.
When we visited Paulie, our kids reacted similarly, though less intensely. They very much enjoyed Paulie, who was very well-behaved, especially for his age. The kids loved petting him, and he jumped and wanted to play as much as they did.
At one point, Paulie jumped up and clamped his teeth on Jay’s shirt opposite their elbow. Jay broke out in hard tears. We asked them if Paulie bit them -- they said no, he just scared them. But Jay wasn't settling down quickly, and we had been there a while. We left, Jay still sniffling, and Danielle happy as can be.
We asked Jay if he liked Paulie. "Yes." We asked if he would want to see Paulie again. "Yes." I was proud that he could separate what happened from what he could expect next time. Angie and I quickly realized that overanalyzing the situation wasn't going to help anything; Jay clearly wasn't going to be damaged by it.
Both kids adore animals. They'll fall for the "Look, a puppy!" trick every time. When I first described what a veterinarian does, Jay was especially interested. Per the above conversation though, she seeks a deeper calling.
Later, when prepping Jay for bed, we noticed that they had in fact been nipped on their arm. Paulie's little teeth left an indelible impression, as did little Paulie.
Omg first Dixie mention!! She was our golden retriever, 5 years older than us. Very sweet girl. Quintessential golden retriever. She was extremely destructive as a puppy — things she ate included money, a bra, a marker, pills, and a wall. Among many other things. Here’s some Dixie:
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