As you know, this summer we got a tortoise as well as a dog. Phoebe the goldendoodle has been with us for just about 2 months and I've been learning about what it means to be a "dog dad."
See, when we decided to get Gus and Phoebe, I was fairly certain that Megan and the kids were going to dote all over the dog and that Gus and I would spend a lot of time hanging out by ourselves. Honestly, I was totally fine with that. I'm not antagonistic towards dogs, I'm just not a traditional "dog person."
The thing that changed things was morning rhythms. Since having kids, I've found myself to be more of a morning person. I like to get up early and do my morning routine (hang out with Jesus, practice Mandarin, exercise, extend my Wordle streak, start work) before the kids are up and the day starts. Pre-dog, I would get up around 5:30 (sometimes I'd let myself sleep in until 6:30), head down to our basement, and come back up around 7ish when I heard the kids (read: JoJo... always JoJo) come out of their rooms. It was a nice rhythms.
See, when we decided to get Gus and Phoebe, I was fairly certain that Megan and the kids were going to dote all over the dog and that Gus and I would spend a lot of time hanging out by ourselves. Honestly, I was totally fine with that. I'm not antagonistic towards dogs, I'm just not a traditional "dog person."
The thing that changed things was morning rhythms. Since having kids, I've found myself to be more of a morning person. I like to get up early and do my morning routine (hang out with Jesus, practice Mandarin, exercise, extend my Wordle streak, start work) before the kids are up and the day starts. Pre-dog, I would get up around 5:30 (sometimes I'd let myself sleep in until 6:30), head down to our basement, and come back up around 7ish when I heard the kids (read: JoJo... always JoJo) come out of their rooms. It was a nice rhythms.
You know what you can't do? You can't sneak past a hungry dog. I learned this when I tried to keep my rhythm but heard the very distinctive whine of a hungry dog who had to go to the bathroom. Of course, I don't want an accident so I let out the dog. But then the dog is awake and my whole morning routine is out the window.
So, I've had to adjust. There are a few things I've learned how to do to get back my rhythm.
- Get up earlier. I learned that if Phoebe is awake when the sun is up, she's up. HOWEVER, if I let her out to go to the bathroom when it's still dark outside, she'll go back to sleep when she's done her business. So, now I'm up at 5 when it's still dark and she'll sleep until about 6:30 or so.
- Give up on work. Getting Phoebe out of her kennel, waiting for her to go to the bathroom, and feeding her take up just enough time for me to not be able to get substantial work done. It's OK. I've come to terms with it.
- Get better at doing things one handed. My number one job when I'm up with Phoebe in the morning is to make sure that she doesn't make enough noise to wake up anyone else in the family. This is obviously easier said than done, especially since she's recently been convinced that the dog she sees on our TV screen (read: her reflection) is her mortal enemy who must be barked at in order to show dominance. The solution I've found, is belly rubs. If I keep scratching her, she stays chill. That means everything else needs to be done one-handed.
Phoebe and I have worked out a nice little rhythm in the mornings. Honestly, she's a pretty chill dog until the kids get up and she tries to eat their clothes as they're wearing them. This Dog Dad life isn't one that I would have necessarily chosen for myself, but we've worked out something nice and I don't mind where we are.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
~Adam
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