Time For the Motherhood Talk

Meet Jasper, my miniature Dachshund, with one of his favorite toys when he was a year old. Isn't he a cutie?!! He will be five years old in June.

About six months ago I wrote this happy little post about my well-behaved pup. I was so pleased with the compliments he received. I was beaming with doggie parent pride! Tiggerlane , however, was quick to chastise me with the following comment.

"Okay, I'll declare you officially a 'mother' when you hold Jasper lovingly to your chest, all the while whispering in a soothing manner, 'There, there....it's okay,' --while he's throwing up in your hair. THEN we'll talk motherhood!! (insert evil laugh here.)"

Meet Jasper sleeping on my niece's tummy. It's just a Jasper thing. He loves to sack out while reclining on a person he loves. He snores. Loudly. Notice he sometimes sleeps with his teeth showing.

So, last Wednesday night I was packing for an overnight trip on Thursday to all state choir auditions. It had snowed earlier in the evening, just a light dusting on the ground and the temperature was in the teens. I went to bed around 11 P.M. Jasper was fidgety. He acted like he couldn't get comfortable, but he finally curled up by my feet while I was reading. After thirty minutes or so, I put my book down and turned off the light. I was just drifting off to sleep when Jasper started climbing on my legs to get up to his favorite sleeping spot on my tummy. Imagine my surprise when I felt something unnaturally warm and wet soaking through my pajamas. Yep, Jasper puked. He puked big time. All the way from my knees to my belly.

Now, believe it or not, I did pick Jasper up and hold him lovingly to my chest while I scrambled in my vomit soaked pajamas to the bathroom. He was whimpering as I laid him on the rug. His little tummy was distended and hard to the touch. Poor little pup. I soaked a washcloth in warm water and cleaned Jasper up. Then I got out of my soiled pj's, took a quick shower, put on clean pj's, removed all the bed linens, put clean sheets on the bed and threw all the pukey stuff in the washer. It was 12:45AM when I got back in bed. Then the real fun began.

Jasper just couldn't stay in one spot. His tummy hurt too bad. He would go to the door wanting outside so I would let him out then in five minutes or sometimes less, he would want back in. I just couldn't see making him stay outside because it was so cold and he was sick. But I knew he was trying to get rid of his tummy ache so I ended up on the couch where I would be near the door. I began worrying. If Jasper was still sick when it was time for me to go to school, what would I do with him? What was I going to do about my overnight trip? I couldn't leave Jasper at the kennel if he was still sick. All these thoughts and worries crowded my mind as I listened to Jasper whimper and whine and as I let him out and in....out and in.

I ended up with maybe two hours of uninterrupted sleep. Maybe. I was so relieved when I turned on the radio around 5:45 A.M. and heard that we weren't having school on Thursday because of icy road conditions. Several hours later I learned that all state choir auditions had been postponed due to the weather. In the meantime, Jasper got over his tummy ache.

We both took long naps and it snowed more on Thursday so we didn't have school today either.

Now this whole post may seem silly to some of you, but I will bet that those of you with human children have spent nights just like I described. I can't have children so I tend to lavish my maternal instincts and love on my animal babies. I know it isn't the same, but, still....Tigger, I think I'm ready for that motherhood talk you mentioned!