About Last Night at PetSmart

Every Friday night the boys and I take in a puppy-training course at the local PetSmart.

The boys always look forward to this weekly outing with Mom and I enjoy their company. I also truly need their assistance, as I find it disagreeable to make that 10-minute drive alone with Ellie. You try driving with a 35-pound ball of fur in your lap!

However, last night they had been invited to a neighborhood friend’s house for pizza and a movie, and I could tell that they were clamoring to go.

“Well, what do you want to do?” I asked them.

They called back their preference as they shot out the back door.

The dynamics of the class changed considerably in the presence of my husband and three daughters. My husband, having trained several dogs when he was a boy, thought it helpful to make suggestions. I did not. (I am like a puppy in that I bristle and balk when corrected. My husband needs a class for me.)

At one point I mentioned to Aimee the Trainer that Ellie doesn’t do well on her walks unless she’s wearing her Gentle Leader. The trainer suggested that I use it on every walk until Ellie is older, which I know to do but often…forget to do.

My husband turned to Aimee and remarked, “My wife thinks that consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.”

Grrrrrr.

Angela found it hard to stay in the training ring without pulling the various dogs’ tails and/or sitting on them, so eventually John took her to see the gerbils. Cate and Felicity became my able-bodied assistants as we worked on the opposing commands of “Ellie, come!” and “Ellie, stay!” (How confusing are all these imperatives? Poor little pups.)

My girls did swimmingly, and I saw for the first time how much my daughter Cate loves dogs. She was especially drawn to the little lapdog Jake, a wee little bit of a terrier who—I am happy to report—has learned to hold his own during the pre-class puppy boxing matches and who furthermore seemed most amenable to all Cate’s petting.

Cate was smitten. She sidled over to me and murmured confidentially, “Where I need to be right now is home with Jake.”

It was a good night—a fun night—but the best and most memorable part came at the end. No, I am not talking about the two puddles that Ellie left as a parting gift for the employees. I am also not talking about the meltdown that Angela had in the chew toy aisle or about my husband’s having to carry his screaming 3-year-old out to the van.

Rather, it was when we were saying goodbye to the trainer and she said (a bit incredulously), “So you’ve got five kids?”

And somehow I felt so at peace right then that I responded with not a trace of self-consciousness or embarrassment, “Yes, we do. And we lost two children as well.”

I love our trainer. She is great with the dogs and is definitely the Alpha “Male” at the classes, but at that point her firmness left her. She put her hand on my arm and said, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Cate chimed in with her chirpy, cheery, “Yep, I really, really wanted a baby! But then we lost her.” She smiled up at Aimee and Aimee smiled back. At that point, it seemed to me, our trainer “got” it. Not everybody does, as you well know.

Have a blessed weekend. In all things and at all places, be who you are and be a witness.

Ad Jesum per Mariam,