Muffins with Mom – Dog days of parenting

Photo credit

Some days a teen would rather hang out with his friends rather than go for a walk with his mother. So what’s a mother to do…? Venture out on her own. And that’s how may dog day began.

As I walked through my neighborhood (while reading), I looked up and noticed two dogs in my path. I crossed the street to avoid contact with them. Both dogs looked at me, then headed in my direction, dragging their leashes behind them.

Not wanting to make eye contact with them, I looked away and walked into someone’s driveway. That didn’t deter the hounds. They didn’t look ferocious, yet they were causing me to panic a little.

By this point, I had to start a little self- talk, I’m not scared, I’m not scared. The dog circled around me. I kept chanting, I’m not scared, I’m not scared.  One dog was a little bigger than a poodle, his brother was bigger. Just as I was ready to break into a jog, a lady and a little girl a couple of blocks away yelled for the dogs.

It’s a good thing someone called for those dogs because I could have given them a run for their money (ha). Did I mention that I like dogs?... just not ones that run loose by themselves.

I continued around another block and saw my son playing basketball with some of his friends. When he looked up, I gave a nod of my head and continued as though nothing happened. I would tell him about my episode when he got home.

My after dinner walk had turned into an excursion. I decided to sit at the picnic table in the park behind our house and write about this experience. It was refreshing listening to the sound of laughing kids on the slide and climbing apparatus.

As I focused on my writing, a young elementary age girl walked up to the park with her pug dog dragging her a bit. A couple of the kid screamed, others petted him. The dog began to make a noise like h had something caught in his throat.

The little girl reassured the other kids that her dog was just breathing. Then he came near where I was seated. I couldn’t see him behind me, but I could hear him. He must have been practicing his breathing again. All I could hear was aarrrr.

I smiled to myself and began my self-talk again, this cannot be happening. I don’t know who let the dogs out that day.

YouTube video credit: Bekhit Fahim

What do your dog days of parenting look like?