Day 21

Gave our puppy away today. Tough call but one we felt we had to make for our family.

I told Jack about it on the way home from school. He gave me the puppy dog eyes. "Why?" Well, we didn't feel she was the right dog for us.... He was kind of sad, but I sort of talked him down with general concerns we had. I said, you know, she'll go live with another family, maybe one that doesn't have small kids, which would be better for her. "And we'll get another puppy?" Well, another puppy, or dog, or maybe a cat. But yes, we'll have another pet.

We sat in a comfy chair for a little bit. He was kind of sad, but we went down and played football in the playroom, and used his pull-back racing cars on the table, and he was happy.

Told Kate on the way home from preschool. With Jack I had kind of laid the groundwork for the possibility in the morning, not with her. Her eyes got wide. "But I liked her!" And I said, well, we all liked her. But we weren't sure she was right for us, and I think you were a little nervous around her. "No I WASN'T," she said indignantly, forgetting all the times we had to lift her from her kitchen stool over the gate to the dining room and back again. Kate was quiet the rest of the way home. Later, she was singing Jingle Bells at the top of her lungs in the living room, so I think she'll move on even easier than the rest of us.

And one day we'll get another dog, or cat, or robot, and Jack or Kate or both will draw nice pictures of that one, too.