Running of the hounds
Austin and Daisy put a whole new spin on the word 'issues'. They ate stuff they shouldn't. They chewed and licked at themselves just for the heck of it. Austin was seriously affected by the starting of a motor vehicle. I mean he went wild. And Daisy consoled herself by eating everything - edible or not. While I am sure they are coping better than I would if I had had the same life experiences they had been exposed to, we needed to come up with a plan fast. The house was mayhem and I noticed that when my husband arrived home from his trip, he did not unpack his suitcase.
My mother seemed to always have fat dogs. I remember her once telling me, she liked her animals fat because that slows them down and makes them easier to care for. She hates it when I tell people that because, being a parent myself now, I understand she was just saying the first thing that came to mind to get me to stop commenting on how fat her dog was. Unfortunately for my mother, that statement made an impact on me and I mention it often - too often. My mother's comment resulted in me hauling my childhood dog everywhere with me in fear she would make her fat. We moved to the bush and built a home for ourselves intending to make a go of it on our own - that lasted until suppertime. We struck out in a tin bathtub down the mighty creek in an attempt to get to town. She became accustomed to riding in the basket of my bicycle - everywhere - with a bonnet on. We ran, we jumped, I climbed, she watched. Snoopy was a beagle and Snoopy seemed very happy.
I tell my kids Austin and Daisy need exercise and lots of it. I tell them the more exercise they get, the calmer they will become and then the habits will diminish. I really have no idea but I do know that will get kids and dogs out of the house and that seems like a great plan. And so the exercising begins and turns out to be much more dangerous than anticipated. Dogs and kids crash together, trip over each other, wrap themselves around trees, pull muscles, scrape skin. The dogs get into huge fights. The kids fight. My husband's suitcase remains packed. Even I hit an all-time low watching my daughter being dragged down the gravel laneway by Austin who heard a truck start a kilometre away.
We come to call the daily exercises the Running of the Hounds as we are sure the danger level is similiar to Spain's running of the bulls. I extoll the kids to keep it up. It will take time to turn around the Austin and Daisy show.
My mother seemed to always have fat dogs. I remember her once telling me, she liked her animals fat because that slows them down and makes them easier to care for. She hates it when I tell people that because, being a parent myself now, I understand she was just saying the first thing that came to mind to get me to stop commenting on how fat her dog was. Unfortunately for my mother, that statement made an impact on me and I mention it often - too often. My mother's comment resulted in me hauling my childhood dog everywhere with me in fear she would make her fat. We moved to the bush and built a home for ourselves intending to make a go of it on our own - that lasted until suppertime. We struck out in a tin bathtub down the mighty creek in an attempt to get to town. She became accustomed to riding in the basket of my bicycle - everywhere - with a bonnet on. We ran, we jumped, I climbed, she watched. Snoopy was a beagle and Snoopy seemed very happy.
I tell my kids Austin and Daisy need exercise and lots of it. I tell them the more exercise they get, the calmer they will become and then the habits will diminish. I really have no idea but I do know that will get kids and dogs out of the house and that seems like a great plan. And so the exercising begins and turns out to be much more dangerous than anticipated. Dogs and kids crash together, trip over each other, wrap themselves around trees, pull muscles, scrape skin. The dogs get into huge fights. The kids fight. My husband's suitcase remains packed. Even I hit an all-time low watching my daughter being dragged down the gravel laneway by Austin who heard a truck start a kilometre away.
We come to call the daily exercises the Running of the Hounds as we are sure the danger level is similiar to Spain's running of the bulls. I extoll the kids to keep it up. It will take time to turn around the Austin and Daisy show.
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| With my friend Gloria and Snoopy, dressed for a bike ride. |
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| Running of the Hounds |
I could swear your mother told me the same thing. At the time, I interpreted the smile as one of self-satisfaction, of how clever she was, but maybe she was just thinking of how cleverly she stopped your questioning.
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