Good Girl Gidget

Our dog has a death wish...she loves our kids so much, she would allow them to torment and torture her all day without harming them.  I don't know how she does it...They pull her tail:  she licks them.  They ride her like Tonto:  she licks them.  They pretend to do dental work on her mouth:  she licks them.  They jump on her while she is chasing rabbits in her sleep:  she licks them.  They explore her nose with a flashlight:  She sneezes on them, THEN licks them...one would think that she would try and avoid the children with all that mishandling, but she doesn't, she purposely positions herself where ever they are, Every.  Single.  Day.  If you were to come to our house, Gidget would be first to greet you, she can't resist new people...visitors are her favorite, especially kid visitors.   Its pathetic when a kid from a non-dog home comes over and is terrified of the slightly over weight, aging kind eyed dog...she looks at them...they scream...she tries to sniff them, they scream.  She wags her tail to reassure them, they scream...that's when she looks at me with eyes that seem to say, "was I bad?"  That's when I look at her, pat her head reassuringly and say, "Good Girl Gidget."  That's when she takes a deep sigh and collapses at my feet and goes dormant while our scared visitors play with her kids.  It's the only time she is separated from her kids...and it depresses her.  The moment our visitors leave, she gets up and finds her children and licks them.  Some days I think she parents my children better than I do.  She has more patience than I do for the loud thud of toys hitting the floor every other second, the constant running laps around the kitchen, jumping off the furniture, spilled food, horrible smells, whining, complaining and crying...lately, all the commotion of moving and having a 2 year old and a 3 year old at odds with each other has me unnerved and short tempered and addicted to the word "NO"...but not Gidget...she sits in the middle of all the raucous, looking at them like they are the sweetest little darlings, even when Sed is using his plastic hockey stick to beat his sister, and Rafe is breaking the sound barrier with her banshie shriek.  Maybe I should just lick my children too?  Gross.  I don't know how she does it...such unconditional, patient love...sometimes outshining the love of a devoted mother...that's when I look at her, pat her head and say, "Good Girl Gidget."
 Parenting small children is a lot of un-glorified work.  It takes a lot of effort and time to teach our kids the things that give roots to their character and stability to their emotions...lots of times I fail to set a good example in this area, I mean, completely fail.  Sometimes I cry out of complete frustration and exhaustion and go into my room to cry unnoticed...the kids continue to play and fight as I slink away, defeated.  Gidget notices.  Moments after sitting down in my room, I hear her toes clicking on the floors as she walks down toward my room.  She pushes the door open with her nose and peers in...she walks over to me and looks at me...that's when she puts her head reassuringly in my lap, nudging my stomach.  I bury my face in her furry neck letting my tears slide down the back of her ears.  She stands there stationary waiting for me to recover...I do, I always do, because I love my life, I love my kids, I love this very challenging season of raising small children...so I wipe my eyes and stand up...that's when I pat her head reassuringly and say, "Good Girl Gidget" and we walk back down the hall toward the children together.  

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