Up all night with the kid

I promised myself I wouldn’t use this space to talk about my children. I’m breaking my rule this week.

I could stay up late and try to write something insightful and thought-provoking but after being up all night with a sick child my brain pretty much went to sleep a few hours ago. My youngest is 6 years old, 42 if you use the old system of telling a dog’s age, and she got into something, somewhere with bites all over and some good bites on her nose that she’s itched to open sores. And last night she scratched and scratched and I tried everything to stop her. Thank goodness for the vet and some medicine today.

Being up all night with a child is nothing new for many of you and some of you are probably wondering why would I stay up all night for a dog. You see while we weren’t blessed with human children, God has seen fit to bless us with children of the four-legged variety.

We take our dogs pretty much everywhere we go, especially on vacation. And yes, more and more motels are accommodating pets because there are more of us pet parents than you may realize.

Growing up we always had a dog, usually a cat too. And, while I like cats, they aren’t, well, they aren’t dogs. Dogs are man’s best friend. It’s a joy to go home for lunch and have them, if they aren’t asleep on the couch, come running to greet me. They keep me company in the kitchen or by the grill when I’m cooking dinner (knowing I’m a messy cook and eventually something will fall to the floor). They listen when I’m frustrated, happy, sad. They don’t judge, talk back or offer useless clichés. They just listen. We can learn a lot from dogs.

I think everyone needs a dog in their home. Dogs are snugglers and love to be cuddled, petted and loved and they love unconditionally.

There are advantages and disadvantages of having dogs over the human children and there are many similarities.

The similarities begin with worrying about your child when they are sick or don’t feel good. You want to help and make them feel better but sometimes the only thing that helps is time. The disadvantage over human children is my Sarah couldn’t tell me what bit her, or where she was when she got bit. She has a tendency to stick her nose in where it doesn’t belong (see, just like some people you probably know.)

She can’t tell me where it hurts or if she’s feeling sick, like a human child can.

On the other hand, I don’t have to teach her how to drive a car, don’t have to worry about the boys coming around asking her to the prom, don’t have to save for college.

Like some children who never seem to be able to leave home, I know my children won’t be moving out anytime soon, but that’s just fine with me. I want them at home for as long as they can be with me on this good ole earth.

While I love my children, I also realize that dogs are literally man’s best friend. When I graduated college, my first goal was to get a dog of my own. I raised Jake (our first child) from a 5-week-old pup and he was 9 when Alan and I met. It took about two, maybe three weeks, when the loyalties changed. One week Alan offered to take Jake to go get pizza and Jake wouldn’t go. I was beaming at his loyalty. The next week, he just hopped in that truck and away they went.

But, whether or not I’m No. 1 in their lives, I know I’m a close second and I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything in the world … except maybe some sleep tonight. Nah, who really needs sleep.