Our family's dog, Philly, loved our daughter at first sight. When we brought our child home from the hospital, Philly was the first to greet her at the door and that's pretty much when the guard dog (non-existent until then in her Beagle/Dalmatian personality) came out in her. I have photos of Philly guarding Sara while she was happily nursing and many of Philly in the near vicinity of Sara all throughout her childhood. That dog knew how to photobomb!
Almost from the start, my dog threw me over in favor of the squalling infant. Philly never had to worry that a baby would replace her as my "favorite child." Oh no. She proactively took matters in her own paws and basically reassigned herself to Sara, thus cutting me out of favored status. Wherever Sara was, Philly was usually lounging nearby.
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| Graham crackers for me? Or the doggie? |
Philly sure wasn't picky about sloppy seconds. But it was less mess to clean up! She never minded the days that it rained graham crackers down on her head.
And so that was how Sara trained our dog to be the best companion ever to a little kid. It was love at first sight for Philly and that love was cemented over food as Sara grew older. Philly stuck close because she knew that where there was little kids, there was the opportunity to have frequent snacks. Dropped munchies never made it to the dust bin because they were gone in an instant. Never mind the three-second rule.
As Sara grew older and out of a high chair, Philly positioned herself
squarely under the dinner table, right in the middle where she could conduct surveillance for dropped morsels (whether on purpose or on accident).
Graduating from baby foods to toddler ones meant even more delicious foods would come her way. Adding a second child just meant more opportunities for between meal snacking! We were never able to break Philly of her habit hanging around the dinner table, so eventually we just gave in.
Once, a few years ago, my son knocked over a full glass of milk that went right through the seam in the middle of the table. Yep. Philly was right there to lap up the spilled milk and didn't seem to mind the surprise milk bath.
Sadly, we lost Philly a few years ago. I miss her awesome crumb clean up capabilities and just last week I admonished my son for the corn on the floor by his chair at the dinner table. "We don't have a dog to clean that up for you, you know!" I said to him. Yeah, we miss that dog!
Funny food stories are ones that inevitably end up in family lore and will be shared for years to come. Everyone has a funny food story about their kid and sharing it can mean a big payoff. Happy Family, a company that markets organic baby, toddler, and kids' food, is sponsoring a contest called Stories from the Bright Side where you could win $20,000 for your child's education. Visit Happy Family's Facebook page, give it a like, and then enter your video, written story, and image into the contest.
The submissions will be judged and the contest runs through 8/31, so there's still time to enter! They also have some awesome coupons for you to use to purchase their products if you're interested. They have a $0.50 coupon, and a $1.00 off Happy Tot or Happy Baby Pouches coupon available. Use this store locator to find a store near you that sells Happy Family products. To learn more about Happy Family, I encourage you to like them on Facebook to stay in the know on product news, contests, and more.
Graduating from baby foods to toddler ones meant even more delicious foods would come her way. Adding a second child just meant more opportunities for between meal snacking! We were never able to break Philly of her habit hanging around the dinner table, so eventually we just gave in.
Once, a few years ago, my son knocked over a full glass of milk that went right through the seam in the middle of the table. Yep. Philly was right there to lap up the spilled milk and didn't seem to mind the surprise milk bath.
Sadly, we lost Philly a few years ago. I miss her awesome crumb clean up capabilities and just last week I admonished my son for the corn on the floor by his chair at the dinner table. "We don't have a dog to clean that up for you, you know!" I said to him. Yeah, we miss that dog!
Stories from the Bright Side contest!
Funny food stories are ones that inevitably end up in family lore and will be shared for years to come. Everyone has a funny food story about their kid and sharing it can mean a big payoff. Happy Family, a company that markets organic baby, toddler, and kids' food, is sponsoring a contest called Stories from the Bright Side where you could win $20,000 for your child's education. Visit Happy Family's Facebook page, give it a like, and then enter your video, written story, and image into the contest.
The submissions will be judged and the contest runs through 8/31, so there's still time to enter! They also have some awesome coupons for you to use to purchase their products if you're interested. They have a $0.50 coupon, and a $1.00 off Happy Tot or Happy Baby Pouches coupon available. Use this store locator to find a store near you that sells Happy Family products. To learn more about Happy Family, I encourage you to like them on Facebook to stay in the know on product news, contests, and more.
This blog post is part of a paid SocialMoms and Happy Family blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own.
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