A Puppy Kind of Day

It’s a puppy kind of day at my house.

You may think that’s a good thing. Puppies are cute and snuggly and so much fun. But that’s the sanitized version of puppies. That’s the version where you get to play with the puppy at a park or a friend’s house, and when you’re done, you leave.

The day to day reality of a puppy is a bit different. And it’s the reason why it’s not a pleasant thing to have a puppy kind of day.

Talia joined our family on August 10th. My husband has wanted a puppy for a long time, and we finally had the opportunity to get one for him. Of course, he’s at work all day and a lot of evenings. I’m the one who stays home. But we knew going into it that I would shoulder a majority of the load where puppy care was concerned. I wanted to do that for Andy. He’s supported me so much in my writing. I wanted to give back, even if it was in something as unnecessary as a puppy.

Adjusting is hard. Training is hard. Getting anything done with her under my feet and demanding attention most of the day is hard. Today, well, today’s is over-the-top hard.

Since Talia joined our family, I’ve not really done any of the things I enjoy. No crafting. No baking. Even my writing output has dwindled to next to nothing. Nothing if you don’t count opening the document and closing it again. I’m counting it. I need this win.

Today, I determined would be different. I’d been craving pumpkin chocolate chip muffins since the weather started to turn cooler. Muffins are quick. Shouldn’t be a problem. Right? Wrong.

No sooner did I get the muffins started than Talia decided it was time for a burst of energy. She commenced with chasing the cat around the house. My grumpy old man cat does NOT find that amusing. I semi-patiently worked around them, ignoring them as best I could. The muffins came out of the oven looking delicious. One went on a plate while I made a cup of tea.

Muffin and tea would make a great photo for social media. I wanted to post a recipe for my readers along with a picture. Besides, what better way to start the day than sitting quietly on my front porch in the cool morning air enjoying a fresh muffin and cup of hot tea. I opened the door. Talia shot out and around the side of the house.

Muffin and tea dropped onto the table outside. I ran inside for the leash. I barely made it out the door before Talia came running back up the porch. Fine. I’d get my picture and eat my muffin. It wouldn’t be as peaceful, but it would still be nice. Then, the grumpy old man cat joined us on the porch. I’d barely had time to snap a picture of my muffin.

Talia and the cat eyed each other for only milliseconds before Talia pounced. The cat swatted. The chase was on, again. Both zoomed back inside. I snatched my muffin, tea, and the unused leash from the table and came back inside. My breakfast sat, uneaten, in the kitchen while I dealt with Talia and the cat.

Finally under control, I went back to my muffin. Little did I know, my husband forgot to put out a puppy pad this morning. The dog found her pillow instead. It’s now in the washing machine. I don’t blame her for that one. And my husband cleaned that one up. Besides, I had a text I needed to answer and a post I’d inadvertently posted on the wrong Facebook page I needed to correct. My muffin would wait, again.

Everything with work back in order, I went to the kitchen right as my husband was leaving for work. Maybe now, I’d get to enjoy my breakfast. Talia struck again. She used the puppy pad this time but didn’t quite get herself fully on it. Andy took her outside, and I cleaned the mess.

Too full of energy after he left, Talia wasn’t going to let me get anything done. I grabbed her leash and decided to let her walk it off. After spending the next fifteen minutes exploring the yard, we came back inside. Talia went to sleep behind the bathroom door.

Finally. I went to the kitchen, removed the wrapper from my muffin, and prepared to take that first bite. The cat wrapped around my legs wanting food. I set her dish on the floor and went back to my muffin. As I take my first bite, Talia rushes from the bathroom and straight to the cat’s food dish. I rush to get it away from her, but she grabs it and food goes everywhere. I sweep it up.

Now that she’s awake again, I know I have no choice. I gobble up my muffin, not savoring even one bite. I wash it down with my, now, tepid tea. This is not the morning I wanted. It’s a puppy kind of morning.

And we all have them, whether we have a puppy in the house or not. Deadlines at work. Health issues that can’t wait. Cranky children. Ministry demands. Financial difficulties we didn’t expect. A phone call with less than pleasant news. One little thing can start the avalanche that makes a puppy kind of day for each of us. We look at perfect, smiling social media posts and think we’re the only ones.

We’re not.

Everyone has them. We need to be real about that. I’m not saying we need to be doom and gloom all the time. We just need to be real with each other. Be willing to share our puppy days with others. That’s where we find support and encouragement in our relationships. It’s where we’ll find our friends willing to pray us through it. That’s where we can find the strength to get through a puppy kind of day.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

1 Peter 3:8 “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”