Yesterday's Proclamation at Last (Sorry!)

I realized at one point yesterday afternoon that I had never mentioned Michael's 'new proclamation' after titling the day's post that way. Just how my brain works at four in the morning--I knew what I wanted to write about then went off on a completely different tangent and never made it back to my original point. Never fear--I can be slow coming to these realizations sometimes, but I'll get there eventually if you'll just bear with me.

So, as we were driving home after bowling practice Wednesday afternoon, he tells me that he's never getting married. He only wants to live by himself so that he can do whatever he wants and not have to listen to anybody else telling him what to do. And he's not having any pets because they're too much hard work and they waste a lot of your money. I think that would be a pretty sad and lonely existence, but I doubt he realizes that. I also don't buy it for a minute. It's all words right now. He's too much of a Romeo to not have a girlfriend and eventually a wife. Someone for him to love and call his own who loves him back just as much. Yeah, his attitude will change soon enough, without a doubt.

And, yes, pets do require some work and create quite a bit of expense at times, but they give you so much more back in love and happiness, it's worth every penny. Maybe you don't need to have three dogs and six birds, maybe just one puppy would suffice. I just like having a crazy canine family--I am a total dog person to my very core and know that I'll always have at least two or three. And I never intended to have six birds, but they're complete characters and I can't imagine not having them now, their constant chatter filling the otherwise emptiness of the day. For Michael to grow up in a home that has multiple pets, I think it would be only second nature to want that for himself as an adult--but I could be wrong. My own experience though, growing up with a family dog, only made me terribly miss having a dog when living situations didn't permit one. I think he'd miss having the love and companionship of a dog as well if he denied himself because he didn't want the work or the expense. Nothing worthwhile comes without responsibility. That seems to be the core of our struggle with him, getting him to accept and take on responsibility. All part of growing up, I think. Some days we do better than others. We just keep on trying to do better.

Face off--this looks a lot more serious than it is...they'd never actually hurt each other, just make a lot of noise, especially when you want to watch some TV...

Down for the count