We don't have kids, we have our two dogs instead and I'm always surprised at how similar the two can seem. If you have kids please don't be offended, I'm not saying your kids are like my dogs, it's more the other way around. I hear all of these stories from friends and family about raising their kids, so when certain things happen I'm like, 'oh this is what it must be like to have kids!'
Like last night. It's 2:30 in the morning and the dogs are up and need to go outside, potty time. Comparable to the 2:30 diaper change. And of course my husband is "sound asleep". (I know he was awake, big faker!) So I get up go out and open the front door. Oh, I need to back up now. We have the picture perfect house with a white picket fence all around the yard. The front gate is kind of sticky and you really have to make sure it's closed all the way. Our dogs are trained pretty well so they don't usually leave the yard unless they're with us. Anyway, ok, so I get up and open the front door and let the dogs out. (Maybe not so comparable to the 2:30 diaper change, opening the door is not as hard as a poopy diaper!) Since I'm up go get a drink of water and take a dose of cold medicine, I'm trying to get rid of a cold before I really get it. I go back to the door to let the dogs back in, and they aren't there! I stick my head out (which I should have done when I let them out) and the gate's wide open, dogs are on the loose! Great! Exactly what I wanted to do at 2:30 in the morning, walk around the neighborhood looking for two wild dogs!
I start walking up and down every street in our neighborhood, over and over, and over, for a good half hour. I go back inside to get James to come help me. So now we're both out looking for them. I had walked up to the beach access a few times, but the waves were so loud and it was very dark, I thought there would be no way the dogs would go down to the beach. So neither of us went all the way down to the beach. The whole time I'm looking for them thoughts of them getting hit by a car are running through my head (even though I hadn't seen even one car the whole time). Or the thought of the outrageous fee we'd have to pay to get them out of doggie jail (the pound). Or even worse, what happens if we look all night and never find them! Each scenario worst than the one before, (in all reality, all of them were just my imaginiation getting carried away). And at the point where I'm so worried I could actually start crying, I see them.
After an entire hour of looking for them they come prancing down the street, soaking wet, just wagging their tales with a big grin on their face. I guess they decided to sneak out of the house for a midnight swim! And it is so hard to stay mad, they look so cute and proud of themselves. Like 'we went down to the beach all by ourself!'
They didn't get hit by a car, or get taken to doggie jail, or lost forever. It's a crazy feeling to be so very angry and totally relieved at the same time. They got the 'BAD DOG' treatment the whole walk home, and a good dose of bitter apple spray (if they were kids they'd be SOO grounded!!)
So I get little tastes of actual parenthood, I get a feel for the baby midnight diaper changes, and the teenager sneakin' out of the house! And for the time being I just love my dogs and the little tastes of future possibilities.
Here's a picture of them when they're being good, just chillin' in the yard!
