Monthly Archives: December 2012

They Call it Puppy Love

They Call it Puppy Love

Morkie Family TreeI got myself something for Christmas this year… a puppy!  Yes, I know. Your first thought is, “are you mom yorkie with morkie puppiescrazy?” or maybe it was “better you than me”, or maybe you just laughed and shook your head.  I assume that, because that’s normally how I respond when someone tells me that they basically lost their little minds to the unending cuteness, whining, and the pitter-patter of four little paws.

If you are familiar with my blog, you might remember my posts about my crazy dog that had issues beyond what training, Prozac, and a dog whisper could fix.  I had to put him down about 6 months ago, because he was hurting himself uncontrollably.  It was extremely difficult, and I am still saddened by the loss.  I swore I her eyes are openwas done with pets, and I was just going to keep our older dog comfortable till it was my morkie and pit lab mixher time, and then we would be a pet free home.  Now I have a twelve and a half, year old lab, pit mix and a thirteen-week-old Morkie.  I guess I need to be more careful with my resolutions.

It all started when one of my best friends bread her little Yorkie with her next-door neighbors Maltese.  She was only planning on 2-3 puppies. One each for the parents and one for my friend’s daughter.  When the time came, though, that little yorkie birthed six puppies!  I went over to see them when they were only 3 days old… and was sold.morkie puppies

After that, I visited the litter once or twice a week.  I choose my puppy when they were about 2 weeks, bringing my morkie homeand didn’t name her till 6 weeks.  Naming a puppy is harder than it sounds.  I had decided on the name, Rue, but after visiting her again and calling her that, I quickly realized that couldn’t be her name.  Her name is Olive, and it suits her perfectly.

I brought her home at 7 weeks.  The first week was a little tough.  She was not too happy about sleeping without her family.  After my experience with my other crazy pup, I am peek a boo morkiedetermined to train my little Olive by the book.  No sleeping with me, unless the sun is up.  It only took about a week, or maybe two, but she now loves her crates, and she even goes into them on her own for naps.  I don’t have to worry about her at night, or when we leave the house, because she is safe and content in her crate.

my daughter and our morkieHousebreaking is a full time job though.  My friend had Olive and her family in a crate, and began paper-training right away.  By increasing the puppy’s area, and decreasing the newspapers, Olive learned pretty quickly that newspapers were potties.  She also took them outside to the same place cutest morkie evershortly after feeding, so they were learning to go outside as well.  Strangely, Olive only likes to go in mulch.  It’s better for me.  I don’t have to clean up the yard and it fertilizes my garden.

Now, I feed her on a schedule, and I have figured out how long it takes her to digest.  She goes outside 95% of the time, and then she will use the newspaper if I don’t make it.  At 13 weeks old, she only misses occasionally.

cutest puppy everPuppies are a lot of work.  Three of my four kids are grown and moved on, and my youngest is in high school.  I kind of thought having this puppy would help me fill my mama morkie in toy basketvoid.  Don’t get me wrong, parenting adults is still fulfilling, and definitely a big part of my life, but something about having a puppy… a little, fluffy, lovable animal, that listens, and loves unconditionally, and is always happy to see you…something about a puppy can make any bad day better.  Really.

Do you have a puppy story?pretty girl morkie

 

 

Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and things that go bump in the night.

Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and things that go bump in the night.

I wrote this post last year – and for the record, I still hold to it… BUT, I will add, that my youngest son is named after Saint Nicholas Day, and we have always told the kids the actual truth about who the man really was – a wonderful saint of a man, that loved and cared for children, in the name of Christ… you can keep your traditions, with out lying or trying to convince your children to believe in the lie… the truth really is fun… I swear.

* Spoiler Alert (if you believe the above are real, do not read this post)

There are many “acceptable” lies that some parents tell their children.  The 3 biggies are: Santa, The Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy.

I honestly never gave these things much thought, except the Easter Bunny… As a Christian, I always had trouble making the leap from Christ’s resurrection to a giant egg- leaving rabbit, but that’s not my point today.

 It seems that many parents in America don’t have a problem telling their kids that a big fat man, a giant bunny, and a fairy, will sneak into their homes, in the dark of night, and leave surprises.  Some parents even drag their kids to the mall, stand in line, and put them on a strange person’s lap for a picture….  When I put it that way, it sounds kinda creepy, doesn’t it?  I’ve had parents tell me that it’s fun!  It’s tradition! It’s harmless and kids love it. Seriously?

I used to leave reindeer snacks, cookies, and carrots out for our annual intruders.  I never even really minded that my kids didn’t have to thank me for their gifts cause they were from Santa, and he wasn’t there on Christmas morning.  If you are a parent that has had your kids write thank you letters to Santa – kudos!  I tried… but then forgot, and my kids didn’t remind me.  Those dang kids.

It all changed one day back in 1997, when my darling daughter had just turned 5. My second child told her that all of these American icons, where not real.  She came to me, and asked if it was true.  I sat down and confirmed what her stinker brother had said.  She looked right at me, with big blue, tear filled eyes, and said, “Mommy, why did you lie to me?”  Really.  My heart broke.  I told her all of those great reasons, and she said, “but mommy, it’s not fun. it always scared me”.  After that, we had a family meeting and we found out that all of our kids found it a little scary, and they never really understood thesanta sees you when your sleeping connections… Santa/Birth of Christ, Bunny/Christ resurrection or Teeth/Fairies… At the time, I was expecting my fourth child and the kids informed me that, if we planned on “lying” to the baby, they would not participate.

That was the end of the mystical characters in our home.

It has served us well, even though some of my friends have been annoyed with us.  Especially when my kids told their kids the “truth”…(sorry)  Through all of that though, it was probably one of the best changes for our family.  Christmas is now 3 gifts, a “myrrh” is something for their bodies, a “frankincense” is for their minds and a “gold” is a treasure that they have wanted.  We still do the stocking for our country tradition, and we fill them with small fun things.  Easter is focused just on Christ, but we still will participate in a good egg hunt on occasion, and we have had a photo or 2 with the Bunny…just for fun.  When the kids lost a tooth, they just handed to me…and I handed them some cash…lame. I know.  You can judge me all you want next time you are waiting for your kid to fall asleep, and then spend 15 minutes digging under their pillow looking for a tooth…

We are always honest with our kids, even in the name of fun.  We leave the make-believe to their imaginations…. If you are a die hard traditionalist, good for you.  But if you ever want to come over to the less stressful side.. I’ll be waiting. 😀

I have also written a post about the, “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays”… if your interested, read it HERE.

I would love to hear how YOU handle the holiday!