Mother of the Year Award

I am a horrible mother. I nominate myself for "Worst Mother of the Year." I will display my award with shame above the hockey, football and soccer trophies on top of the liquor cabinet.

I have done a few things of which I am not so proud, and the past week, unfortunately, has been chock full of them. I tend to speak a lot before I think, even when I might not be completely sure what I am talking about. My brain is so full of all the details I MUST remember, that it is selective when retrieving information that is not absolutely imperative. It's like my mind sees every day memories as "optional."

My kids and I have gotten caught up in "puppy madness." Three separate families have recently acquired new puppies and it's all I can do to keep my boys from kidnapping one and hiding it in their bedroom. I swore we would never buy a dog, but adopt from a shelter or rescue center. There are some wonderful websites which will give you a list of animals available near your area. You can even search as far as 100 miles from your home. I am only aware of this because I have literally spent hours on two particular sites poring over profiles of sweet, cuddly, family-less puppies while the kids were at their dad's. On www.petfinder.com I found three possibilities. I knew we were interested in a small sized dog because I am only willing to deal with small sized poop. (I'm serious.) I was partial to females because I had grown up with female dogs and knew what to expect. We were also hoping to find one that might be part Cavalier King Charles Spaniel since my sister has one and she is an angel.

Of course, after a couple of hours I found the perfect pup for us. Luckily, she was at an animal shelter in Ohio located directly on route to my parents house! She was ten weeks old, part Cavalier and part something else tiny and cute. My insides quivered when I read that they would allow adoptions to people who live out of state. This was our new family member! I diligently filled out the online application and sent it right away to the contact person. My giddiness couldn't be contained...I needed to share my spectacular news with someone. Someone who would be just as exited as I was.
I called my middle son, B. I begged him to ride his bike over for just five minutes because I had a surprise to show him on the computer. He was at the door before I could think twice. We "oohed and ahhhed" over the picture of the little puppy. B had tears in his eyes as he pleaded, "Please mom, can we drive out to get him tomorrow? Please?????" After agreeing to get our puppy as soon as possible, I hastened to add that we still had to be approved by the shelter. (though I couldn't see why they'd reject us as we were the perfect family! Ha!) We squealed and hugged each other and began to plan where to keep the cage and what kind of dog food to purchase when suddenly B said breathlessly, "I'm so glad Mr. M is letting us get a dog! He is the coolest!"

Shit.

Mr. M was our landlord. He owns the beautiful house we live in. He is very cool, and he is very straightforward. When we first moved in, he told us no pets, but made an exception for our cat, Mitch. Well, Mr. M and his family were one of the families in the neighborhood with a new puppy. Every time we visited Mr. M and his family, they were playing with their new little fuzzball and having a grand old time. He was thrilled with the new addition and we were certain he would have a change of heart about the no pets rule.

Except, that on the evening I asked B to come over, I had forgotten that I hadn't spoken with Mr. M yet. I didn't know if he would really let us get a dog.