Sky is currently obsessed with dogs, which is not a good thing in our eyes, because the last thing we want in our house is a dog. No offense to all the dog-lovers out there. I’ve just never fully understood the joy of barking, dog-smell, hair all over the place, and picking up an animal’s poop in a little plastic bag that you then have to carry with you for the rest of your walk. But Sky of course, is oblivious to all of that, and I’ve never seen her more excited than she was over my parents’ dog, Jack. During our week in Michigan last month she learned her third word (after mommy and daddy) – “doggy” – and yelled it whenever he entered the room.
Every time Sky interacted with Jack, my mom would ask her, “What does the doggy say?” Sky would stare at her blankly and then my mom would say, “Woof, woof!” One day I asked my mom if that was really necessary. “Why do we want her to learn animal sounds? Shouldn’t we just teach her animal names?” My mom laughed and said, “Because it’s fun!” Pretty soon everyone was working on it – trying to get my daughter to bark. But she wouldn’t do it.
When we got home, I found myself falling into it too. It suddenly seemed like an important milestone. What child doesn’t know what the doggy says? We worked on it every day. Then one morning when I asked the question Sky responded, “Woo! Woo!” I was ecstatic and grabbed the video camera.
It’s funny how your pre-parent self is quick to decide the things you won’t do when you’re a mom. Things like wearing sweat pants in public, driving a car with week-old, mashed up pieces of food on the floor, and teaching your child baby-talk. But I’m starting to appreciate that part of motherhood – how in some ways it’s relaxed me, almost without my permission. I’ll admit it: I like hearing Sky tell me what the doggy says. We’re even working on the other animals now. And lately I’ve been driving a very messy car, occasionally while wearing sweatpants. But the days when I let go of what really doesn’t matter long term – those are the days I laugh the most, and when it’s easy to remember why I wanted to be a mom in the first place.
like to get dirty obviously never met Skylar. It might change when she gets older, but for now she loves to be messy. When I let her dig in the dirt, she’s so content she actually sits still for fifteen minutes at a time. It’s a pain for me, in terms of the cleaning up part. But any healthy childhood has to include a little dirt, right?
