Raising Wolverines

Back in the fall of 2000 when we were preparing to adopt our dog Chaucer, I read quite a bit about how to raise a puppy.  One thing I remember is that dogs are pack animals and they like to sleep together.  The books recommended thinking of the bedroom as the "den" and letting the puppy sleep with his humans so as not to be lonely.  So that's what we did with Chaucer*.

I sometimes think our girls must be puppies because no matter where they fall asleep, they seem to end up in our room.  At one point, Chris and I bought a king-size bed to better accommodate the crowd but we exchanged it after a month, opting for a cozier queen-size mattress.  So now, we live with the elbows in the ribs and feet in the face.  Sometimes, we just say no and kick the little invaders out of our bed but they don't go far.  We trip over them in the morning on the way to the bathroom.  

Some wise people would probably tell us we should be more firm and that we'd all be happier and healthier if everyone stayed in her own bed.  Maybe true.  But to quote a favorite country song, I know that I'm "gonna' miss this" and I'm "gonna' want this back".  What could be better than a sweet little body wanting nothing more than to cuddle up to mine?  Our teenager has grown up and out of our bed and appears (so far) to be normal.  Sometimes I look at her and wish that for just a minute I could hug her two year old self again.  That girl is gone forever but I have a seven year old, a five year old and a three year old sleeping in my room right now.  I'll hold onto them as long as I can.

Poised to win the Nobel Peace Prize

She clearly wants peace--isn't that enough?

Bright light, bright light

*Chaucer has moved on to a better home with my in-laws who spoil him completely.  Every time we go over there he seems slightly afraid that we're going to decide to take him back home with us.  Thank you BD for being such a good mama to our buddy (Did I mention he's looking a little chubby?)