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bad mommy
Good health is a revelation
When I took my son in for his first routine eye exam, I had no idea he needed glasses. Neither did he. He seemed fine, wasn't running into things, was reading fine in school, but nonetheless the optometrist suggested glasses. OK, I said, let's give it a shot. One week later, his glasses arrived and we went into the office to pick them up. He picked them up dubiously, slid them over the bridge of his nose, and stood there for a moment, blinking as the refracted light hit his retina in new and ... Read more »
There goes the neighborhood (again)
After several months of leading the kids around our new and blessedly quiet neighborhood hoping to find some children running about, the spring temperatures have brought them out of hiding like little hibernating bears. We have both two little girls and a little boy within the block, and now the kids self-eject from the house as soon as their little feet can take them in the morning to go bike riding. As an added bonus, the little girls have a 12 week old Golden Retriever who comes by on his ... Read more »
Gaming the system
Raising kids is a lot like raising dogs. There's a lot of responsibility, a lot of poop, ridiculous amounts of cleaning, and no small amount of frustration. Regardless, the benefits far outweigh the costs, and with a little consistency and training, it's all good. Training being the key component. My son likes Legos and chihuahuas, two things I kind of like but wouldn't really say are my "thing". He is his own kid. I realized he was fascinated with mechanical devices more than biological ... Read more »
Dog person through and through
I've always been a dog person, unabashed, and proud of it. From the time my first Lhasa bit me at eight years old, then snuggled into my arm before pooping in my shoe, it was all over. I'm helpless. Cats were a creature I had to work at liking. We never had one growing up; in fact, until veterinary school, I never lived with one. Now that I have Apollo and have come to appreciate their unique characteristics, I can't imagine my life without one. I wouldn't quite say I'm a cat lady, but I do ... Read more »
Pie eatin’, dog and kid abandoning mom here
I opened Facebook on Mother's Day morning, shortly after my chubby fingered kiddos brought me (and Brody) toast and eggs in bed, and saw this oft-repeated quote: "A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." And I sighed. I really don't like that quote. It's like what we talked about on Friday all over again. Hey, unless you're cutting off your limbs and giving away all your pie and raising free range ... Read more »
Dr V, purveyor of poisonous crafts and ideas
I like spending time with my family. We do crafty things, because they're fun and everyone enjoys them. One of our traditions, started back when my daughter was in kindergarten, is to make little Valentine's Day trinket boxes to send to school on Valentine's Day- a craft I found on the Martha Stewart website and immediately fell in love with. It's a cute craft- you take empty matchboxes, cover them with scrapbook paper and ribbons, and fill them with conversation hearts. It's simple, sweet, and ... Read more »
Them cookies are serious business, people.
One of the reasons many vets give for choosing their profession is, "I like animals better than people." It's not a good reason, mind you, and those with misanthropic tendencies learn to cover it up pretty quickly or else have a rotten career, but I will tell you from experience that well, it's true. I've been working on it. I actually get along pretty well with people, as far as I can tell. But every once in a while I experience one of those penultimate human experiences that I'm supposed to ... Read more »
I’m only *kind of* violent
Ever since I was a little kid, I've been particularly sensitive to depictions of violence against animals. My mother learned early on that I couldn't handle Tom and Jerry, the Roadrunner cartoons, or Sylvester and Tweety. "But he's a carnivore!" I would cry sympathetically. "He's just hungry! Turn on the Snorks, Mom." And that holds to this day. But apparently I was much less bothered by anything involving humans wailing on each other. Shortly after graduating vet school, my husband bought an ... Read more »
Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem…
Picking my daughter up from kindergarten is an adventure. We have no bus service, so one has to either walk a short 15 minutes, or drive. I'm fine with walking, personally, but my 3 year old who has to accompany us has a different view on things. I'd like to say I just told him to deal with it, but with temperatures over 100 for the past two weeks, I can't say I blame him for complaining. I also have to contend with the fact that I have this puppy. A puppy with separation anxiety. A puppy who ... Read more »
