The Periphery of the Mind

Spent the weekend telling everyone we could about the pregnancy. There's a few people left to tell, but I hate to tell them over the phone or via e-mail or whatever. Looks like I'll have to make a few special trips. On Maryanne's side of the family she's having to keep her sisters from telling her dad's side about the pregnancy, but they're holding their tongues so it's all good.

She's tired a lot, with little energy anymore. I know she's got a lot on her plate, and I think financial issues are starting to stress her out a bit. Personally, as hard a time as she's having this early in I'm wondering if she isn't carrying twins. And there's still the issue of what was causing her tremors this Spring; an MRI is likely out until after she delivers, but renewed tremors could possibly cause a miscarriage and if it's MS or worse she needs to be getting diagnosed and treated ASAP.

But on to brighter topics. Like hating the pets.

Once again, while mowing the yard last night I found myself hating having dogs. It's so consistent that I feel this way after mowing that Maryanne had been doing it most of this summer, just so she wouldn't have to deal with me impotently enraged at having pets who poop, howl, bark, and tear up the yard. The rest of the time we just ignore them, taking them for walks when we feel guilty for leaving them cooped up. Otherwise we feed them, make sure they have water, and I yell at them when they start howling at three in the morning (they like to sing with far away police sirens). It's a shame really, because they are smart and friendly dogs; they just want more attention than we give them and get bored easily.

We're one of those couples who keeps dogs and never really do anything with them. But we can't get rid of them, because that would make Maryanne sad and likely resentful of me. We can't get rid of one, because then the one we kept would be alone pretty much all the time and go nuts (that's why we got Caden, to keep Stormy company). And, to be honest, it feels wrong to "throw away" a pet, even if you can find them a better home. I mention all this because I've always feared that how we (yes we) treat the dogs will reflect on how we will treat our kids. Maryanne's already debating getting rid of the canaries to relieve herself of some of her pet-related responsibilities. And I wonder if we won't have to get rid of the dogs for fear of neglecting them.

On the other hand, we can't get enough of Flower the cat, so maybe we'll treat our kids more like Flower.

Labels: Fatherhood