Yep, we're one of those gay couples without kids but with two dogs and a cat that we treat like our spoiled children. They appear on family calendars, they ride with us in the car, they even talk ( well, we talk for them but they definitely talk… really, they do ) . And just like kids of your own, they tend to love Grandpa and Grandma more than they do us--how insulting!
Recently our Sheltie, Frankie got to go away for the weekend to the cottage with her grandparents while the Shiba Inu, Pudge stayed home. Pudge is not one for the outdoors--she's a couch potato like me. We enjoy our food, our couch, our blanket and TV. But Frankie, she doesn't look back; she loves the wind in her hair, the dirt, the country ( it's the collie in her ) . We sadly handed Frankie over to the grandparents on Friday afternoon and said our farewells to a fast-moving butt in the distance. She was gone in a split second, never looking back, never wondering where her mommies are sending her. In fact, she could care less. Her face was lit up with a smile a mile long and she had a wag in her tail and I swear I heard her yelling 'FREEDOM!' on her way into their car. Damn kids!
All weekend Pudge, who's the more dominant, aggressive and much more independent of the two, longed for her sister, as did we. She wouldn't go outside for more than one minute to potty and she seemed sad and lethargic, like us. We all missed Frankie but word on the street was that Frankie didn't miss us at all. So we started to ponder why grandpa and grandma's house was so much fun.
Finally, Sunday rolls around and we are impatiently awaiting Frankie's return to her two moms who love her so much. We've got her Halloween costume ready to show her and bought her a new toy all in anticipation of the grand and happy return. And then it happens; we hear the car, the doorbell and she arrives! But to our surprise, astonishment, bewilderment, she doesn't even recognize us in the room and when Pudge tries to sniff her butt, Frankie growled! Grandpa sits on the couch and Frankie is beside him like she's glued to his hip. She only moves for the second when she jumps from Grandpa's couch to Grandma's lap--bypassing both mom's plea for a kiss.
Grandpa proceeds to tell us about her weekend of freedom: runs in the large yard, walks without a leash, visits with neighbors and their dogs and something about hot dogs, chips, potato salad and a bunch of other stuff I tried to block out. Well, no wonder why she hates to see us. The fun was over. She was back in the city with the moms who tell her 'No,' don't let her run free off a leash and certainly don't give her potato salad.
So we are second fiddle. We feed her, clothe her, clean up after her when she's sick and yet, when it comes to Grandpa and Grandma, all else is forgotten and we are simply 'the moms,' boring and no fun.
EVENTS:
Nov. 11: Fall Gift Bazaar & Toute Suite Cookie Sale, Red Door Animal Shelter, 10 a.m. -3 p.m.
Indian Boundary Park Cultural Center, 2500 W. Lunt Ave., Chicago, $2, www.RedDoorShelter.org
Nov 11: Doggy Adoption Benefit and Yappy Hour, Central Bark Doggy Day Care & Chicago Canine Rescue, 7 - 9 p.m.
3358 N. Pulaski, $10, 773-736-3641 or www.CentralBarkUSA.com
