Momservation: They say the true pain of childbirth fades otherwise mothers wouldn’t have more children. Obviously we also forget the pain of infancy and toddler years or else we wouldn’t ever get puppies either.

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 Darby Diamond Sky Wheeler, 
                                                           8 wks, 12lbs, 20 in. 
                                                                          Momma and fuzzy baby are doing well.

Right now I am dashing off this blog while the baby is sleeping. I only have a limited amount of time to try and accomplish anything because once she wakes up the baby demands my full attention.

There’s the feeding. Then making sure she’s gone potty. Some playtime for stimulation. Close supervision so she doesn’t hurt herself or break something. Realizing there’re more things I need to do to baby-proof the house. Hopefully after a few hours of that she’ll be ready for her nap and I’ll be able to sneak in a shower.

New baby? No, new puppy. But really, it’s the same.

Oh, how quickly we forget the tied down, all consuming, rigorous schedule of babies, toddlers and puppies once we have left those years safely in our rear view.

I have always said the newborn years weren’t my best genre. I still occasionally suffer some Post Traumatic Stress when I smell Desitin.

The toddler years I did better, because they’re much more interactive and receptive to bribery.

The pre-kindergarten years I was like a relay runner sprinting to the next leg, giving it all I had because I knew I was almost done and I could pass the baton to California educational system.

And the school years have been my favorite yet. I still celebrate every year’s Back to School day doing absolutely nothing unless it involves chocolate.

So why on earth would someone, who was so desperate to not go through all of that again that she had her Hubby get a vasectomy on Father’s Day weekend because it was the first date available, get a puppy?

Because puppies are the Clif Note version of early childhood. All the joys of adding another family member but with a quicker learning curve and they don’t talk back.

Before I know it Little Miss Darby won’t need to get up in the middle of the night. She’s well on her way to being potty trained. She already will eat whatever I put in front of her. I don’t need a babysitter when I leave her, just some good crate training. And after I play with her for a little bit, she just sits at my feet and lets me work. At nine weeks old.

My non-fuzzy kids are eight and ten years old. I still haven’t gotten them to do that.