Go Ask Dad: Dog talk after Christmas (Wrapping it up)

After the excited melee that is Christmas morning, I sank gratefully into the couch. Our house wolf, i.e., dog, joined me. Her furrowed brow and weary eyes seemed to wonder, 'How often do we have to do that?'

I assured her that Santa only comes once a year. She sighed with relief but also with a hint of melancholy. I gently scratched behind her ears. “You know how other people say things like, ‘They grow up so fast’?”

The dog cut her eyes at me.

“Ok,” I admitted, “I’m the one who is always saying that. But here’s the thing: I miss those earlier years. Remember? Oh, right, you weren’t born. But the kids would stuff the wrapping paper in their mouths!”

At this, she grunted in agreement. She also enjoys chewing on wrapping paper. Then we were quiet. I thought of my toddlers, plopping down on their diapered butts, drooling little bits of shiny paper, and our house wolf probably wondered why I’d snatched that bright red bow from her mouth.

“Any resolutions for the new year?” I asked the dog to break the silence. “I mean, besides chewing more of my stuff?”

Her ears perked up. She rolled over on the couch, exposing her pink belly. I chuckled and obliged the belly rub. Her tongue hung out, and she had that Zen look on her face, as if to teach me to live in the beating heart of this day and every day.

Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of Little Big Moments, a collection of mini-essays about parenting, and Tigers, Mice & Strawberries: Poems. Both titles are available most anywhere books are sold online. Taylor-Troutman lives in Chapel Hill where he serves as pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church and occasionally stumbles upon the wondrous while in search of his next cup of coffee.