The Chinese may claim this as the year of the Ox. but for us it’s been the year of the dog. This weekend marks 1 year since we got Daisy. At the time I had been against getting a dog. I thought it would be great to have a dog on the weekends but I couldn’t imagine how we would fit a dog, and especially a puppy, into our weekday routine. Then the world stopped and we didn’t leave the house, and it turned out to be perfect timing to get a puppy.
Jeanne always wants to make sure that people know that we got Daisy pre-pandemic (she was not a Covid-puppy), but the result was the same for us as for the many families who acquired a dog after the lockdown started. While the world was uncertain and scary, we had a bundle of fluffy joy to focus on. She helped make 2020 so much easier than it would have been. She allowed us a consistent topic of conversation that had nothing to do with Covid. She added to our days by being around whenever the girls had a break from school or we had a break from work. And she allowed all of us to have more positive memories of 2020 than we would have otherwise.
We’ve gotten lucky that her temperament is so sweet and submissive, she is very well-behaved. An unnecessarily tough-sounding bark is her biggest behavior issue. She is equally excited about meeting new dogs as new people, both of which have been tricky during the pandemic, but has made us more social than we would have been. She’s made numerous canine friends in the neighborhood and now that we have a fenced-in yard, it’s been easier to let her outside to play even when the weather is bad. We’ve adapted our routines to her and she’s figured out her role in our daily routines in a way that works well for all of us.
I’ve come to appreciate her forcing me out for a morning walk before work which is a good way for both us to begin our days. And mid-afternoon when I’m starting to lose steam I have a built-in excuse for a break to take her out. We had hoped the girls would be better about consistently walking her, but they certainly appreciate having her around to cuddle with on the couch or play fetch and tug-of-war with. Jeanne treats her as her third baby and Daisy definitely looks to Jeanne as the alpha in charge. It’s also clear that a dog will part of our lives for the long-term because by the time the girls are leaving the house, it’ll probably be time to get a new puppy.
It’s been a year unlike any other, but we’re lucky to have had Daisy in our lives to help us get through it with a lot of smiles.
And since I know that many of you who read this blog are more interested in Daisy photos than anything I write, here are some photos from the past year:
Things that went well this week:
- The girls were back in school after a boring week at home for February break
- Jeanne got her first vaccine dose and is signed up to be a vaccinator after she is fully vaccinated
- Caroline’s foot injury healed and she is back to 100%
Things that did not go well:
- US passed 500,000 deaths from Covid
- I broke out in a rash that seems to be a very mild case of shingles, no pain just a little itchy
- The tension in town had subsided in recent months but seems to be picking up again with a town-wide tax referendum on the April ballot and a push for more in-person schooling across the state
Random happy find from the web:
- A middle schooler was insecure about his haircut. So his principal fixed it himself instead of disciplining the boy for wearing a hat: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/us/principal-student-haircut-trnd/index.html
Cute puppy photo of the day:
Life, and All That Surrounds It 