Heavens to Betsy

In a recent conversation with my husband, I was lamenting over the laundry list of issues that our dog, Betsy, currently contends with. She has a variety of health and emotional concerns that we cannot really trace back to any particular event. Just the allergies alone require daily medicine. If she does not get this medicine, she licks her back leg until an open sore develops, usually accompanied by an infection, requiring antibiotics. In her 4 short years with us, we have done numerous rounds of antibiotics. She also has seasonal allergies which create red, itchy paws that she licks raw in the spring and late summer. Those allergies mean allergy shots. Recently, we changed her food and gave away all of her meat based dog treats to try and get this allergy thing under control. This resulted in me trying my hand at making sweet potato jerky treats that ended up being more like sweet potato chips.

            “I don’t remember dogs having all of these problems when I was a kid,” I told Tom. I mean, my dog, Sheeba, ate Gaines Burgers and Moist and Meaty packets with ingredients like, “meat and meat byproducts.” Her dog treats were Milk Bones and she never had an allergy or a behavior problem and lived to be 15 years old. Tom’s dog, Patches didn’t have one medical condition either and lived to the ripe old age of 12. Her food was a little better, like Science Diet. But seriously. Easy. Dogs didn’t need meat free, grain free, gluten free, vegetable free food. They got Gravy Train and slept on an old towel in the garage.  Back in those days, when someone watched our dog while we went on vacation, the note said, “Feed the dog. Let the dog out. Make sure she has water,” (if there even was a note). I leave 3 pages worth of “sub plans” and then I still call or text 3 times because there was something I forgot. Maybe when I was a kid people just didn’t have the time or patience for special dogs like Betsy. Perhaps they “went-home-to-the-farm” as my husband sometimes says. Because back then dogs were just animals. Now dogs are fur-babies that get dressed in Halloween costumes. To be completely honest, I kind of enjoy looking up recipes for hypoallergenic dog treats on Pinterest. I don’t know why dogs are so different now than I remember, but one thing is for sure, if that sweet, fuzzy, black and white face will sit up pretty for her homemade organic sweet potato jerky treats, she’ll get one.

I Miss "Mom-ing"

When our son was suffering from an illness, he came to the house and sat in our hot tub, took some alka-seltzer plus cold medicine, ate some homemade soup from the fridge, and spent a day on our couch watching Netflix. About a week later his wife, came down with the same bug. Since she chose to stay at their apartment and recuperate, I asked if we could drop off some soup. On our way over we also stopped at Walgreens where I got some more cold medicine, Kleenex, some cozy socks, and a Sprite. I dropped off the goody bag and didn’t think much more about it. About a week later, I heard Melody tell Robby that he should feel grateful that he got stuff like that when he was a kid. I don’t know how he responded, but the more I thought about that, the more I felt I had to set the record straight.

            “Remember when you told Robby that he should feel fortunate to get stuff like that growing up? Well, he really didn’t.” I went on to tell her that I did the normal “mom stuff” when the boys were sick, but I didn’t go all out and do little goody bags or anything like that. I told her that I just miss them so much, that I kind of go overboard when I get a chance. The truth is, I just really miss “mom-ing.” We’ve been doing this empty nest thing for a few years now, and although we are pretty much adjusted to this new season of life, whenever we get the opportunity to do something extra for our kids, we do. I love nothing more than being able to take my college-bound son grocery shopping. Letting him fill the cart with bags of frozen green beans and chicken breast, peanut butter and jelly, and cans and cans of soup, fills my heart with joy. Tom is the same. If Robby mentions that he needs certain parts for his motorcycle, Tom will just get them and make sure they are here when Robby comes over to work on his bike. We don’t go crazy or give them anything they want. I just see it more like filling a little hole that we got when they moved out. I make cookies and send them to Sam in a care package about once a semester. And when I have extra soup I drop it off at work for Robby. And when I see something I think Melody would like, I pick it up for her. And if one of those kids gets sick and I get a chance to do a little “mom-ing” someone can expect some homemade soup and a little goody bag filled with love.