Summer is here, and I’m home with all my kids now, not just the two younger ones. It makes a difference, even that one older child being around. Things are just a little crazier. It’s more the exponential kind of increase, not additional. This week, however, the added “excitement” has come from my youngest child–19 month old Maggie–who must constantly practice her new-found talent of turning door handles, thereby opening or closing doors. The pantry, the office, the garage, the back door, the FRONT door…

It’s not that I’m afraid she’ll wander off if she gets out the door, because I’m pretty much right behind her. It’s the dog. At the first hint that a door to the outside world might be opening, he is nosing his way past the door-opening culprit, attempting to squeeze his horse-like body through the miniscule opening that might appear. There are times I will be right there, on top of him, and he gets by me. 85 pounds of dog-flesh, ready to launch, is tough to stop sometimes. Well, he had quite a day yesterday–escaping to cavort about the neighborhood twice.

He is so disobedient—doesn’t come back til he’s good and ready. After the first episode of fruitless calling, whistling, and clicking to get his attention, I just left him out there. I didn’t even bother the second time. He came slinking back when he got hot and tired. On his terms, you see. This does not exactly make his momma (ME) happy with him.

To really make his day complete, he stole my last piece of pizza–my lunch, of which I’d had one delicious bite–right off the kitchen island. It’s not like he snagged it off the floor—no, he knowingly reached for it! I was only gone a minute or less, in the next room, and when I came back, I saw him by the back door, cowering in guilt. It took a split second to go “Why is he?…no way (glance at the island)!…that no-good piece of $#%#*$&$…” and then reach for the wooden spoon. I hope he enjoyed the pizza because he surely paid for it. He spent the rest of the day in the laundry room or in the yard, and he tried to suck up every time he saw me. No way. Not that day. I’ll start over with him today. Grrrr….