Canine Babies vs. Human Babies

I honestly don't know which poses a bigger personal challenge right now - puppy or human training. Of course, we've already realized many immediate benefits upon bringing our new puppy home. A pup already knows how to walk, talk and eat by itself. There are no diapers and no nursing (ouch - that would hurt). We've managed to keep soiling in the house at bay quite easily, and there isn't a whole lot of crying. Getting Ella to sleep through the night took less than a week. Sounds ideal, really.

But that whole biting stage can hurl things into a twister pretty quickly. Coming up on three weeks in our home and our soft, sweet canine is still biting the hands that feed her. All members of the family are sporting fresh puncture wounds each day and at least two of the three kids have taken to screaming and running away from Ella whenever she looks askance. My husband and I have flipped through a dozen dog training books trying to get a handle on the right approach. Just bought the bitter spray today - we'll give that a whirl. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, email me if you have any skin-saving techniques for us to try.

Playing to an Audience

It occurs to me when I think about what to write next, and how I relate to my job as mother, that the easiest part of my job is behind me. In fact, I laugh when I remember my pregnant self and the trepidation I felt waiting to actually begin parenting. Looking back at my early foibles and missteps which sometimes overshadowed the sleep-deprived noose of caring for infants and toddlers, I have the gift of hindsight. I could have done anything with or to my very young children, and the generic responses were few - a scream or a good-old, gut-wrenching cry. I think back to diaper blowouts at the mall, and I remember times when I forced red and rigid screamers into car seats, or took away sippy cups cold-turkey. For the most part, these moments were performed without audience. As my children have grown older, exercising their ability to articulate thought with meaningful words, they wield feedback I would shun from the most tyrannical boss. Kids become an audience of critics and hecklers that grows stronger with every birthday.

Blogger Backstory I

When my middle child - my boy - was four years old, he wasn't always quite himself. For a while, he insisted that everyone call him "Rockstar". So picture me dropping him off at preschool, when one of the other parents said something benign, like - "Hey Aidan, I like your shirt". Aidan would swoop in with a swift correction, "Rockstar, call me Rockstar". Believe it or not, the day finally arrived when he no longer wanted to be called Rockstar. He continued, however, to speak fondly of his friend Yo-yo which he did for more than a year. Apparently, Aidan and Yo-yo went to car school together (don't ask) and a day didn't go by when we didn't hear of some plan or another that Aidan had made with Yo-yo. At least "Nother Mother" was finally gone. We used to hear of Aidan's Nother Mother who always drove a cooler car and routinely let Aidan do things that I, his real mother, wouldn't let him do.