King

When your children leave home, your life changes forever. It really begins as they become teenagers. Daughter Stephanie is at that stage right now. She runs a shuttle service for Jackson and Gavin, her day begins early and ends late, after all there are other things that need to get done too. I remember this well. We lived on another part of Beaver Lake when they were that age, 8 miles from town... it was a good thing gas was 89cents. When you are going through it, you just do it. It's part of the "Parent Contract!"

Flash forward a few years and your life is now your own. The kids are grown, your meals can be anything that sounds good at anytime of the day and bedtime is no longer dictated by the kids' needs. But in households all over America, the family dog/cat moves up a notch. Maybe more than a "notch." I say America because I seriously doubt every country treats the family pet as the King!

Ben has a routine that 2 year old toddlers use to get their way. He demands breakfast, stamping his feet and circling... his best attempt at convincing us to get up from coffee and paper to fix his meal immediately. Sometimes we fold and just do it, anything to hush the child dog. Ben's really a senior citizen just like us, he came to us from a rescue group 10 years ago... so he's somewhere around 13 now. Even so, he retains that sweet cocker spaniel babyface!

Just try saying no to this face...

It's really more like this face!

We are doing the best we can as parents dog owners. Some days we actually remember how to say the word "NO!"