Daily Archives: September 21, 2012

It’s my bi-monthly Friday off from work, and nothing says Day Off like waking up at 4:30 in the morning! AM I RIGHT?

Sigh.

Our dog friend is sick again (by the way we have taken to calling him Buster as a formal name, mostly because it lends itself to Boo Boo as a nickname and let’s be real, he will always have a little Honey Boo Boo in him) and so I’ve basically been staring at him for the last few hours with one eye, watching Real Housewives of Miami with the other eye, and counting the hours until Garrett gets home from work so we can decide if we are going to take him to the vet. Again. I mean, it seems to be the thing to do lately — It’s Friday! Let’s go to the vet!

People always say dogs prepare you for kids, and in my mind I always thought that sounded reasonable. It’s an added responsibility, another mouth to feed. Another person to care for — sure! All of that prepares you for a baby. But what I think is even more enlightening (and preparatory, perhaps) is that it allowing me to get to know what kind of caretaker I am. And right now, the answer is AN EXTREMELY ANXIOUS ONE. And the problem with worrying so much is that it doesn’t actually solve any problems. Also it does not help with other things like sleeping and eating well when you are anxiously hand-wringing. I guess what I’m saying is my health and Buster’s health are apparently directly proportional.

I emailed a lovely blog reader this morning for advice since she is a vet tech, and it made me feel less stressed to reach out to some “advice nurse” friends. Should we go to the vet? Am I being a spaz? Does it get easier? And you know, taking action does make me feel better than just sitting here worrying. But I’ll tell you what, if I had a kid right now I would be the kind of parent who just stays up for 24 hours straight watching their child to make sure it is breathing and no matter what your parenting philosophy is, I think we can all agree that is not a very productive strategy. Despite the fact that I have spent most of this year with baby fever and wondering WHEN WHEN WHEN will we have one, WHEN?!? I am starting to feel more comfortable muttering to myself that everything is unfolding as it should.