We went to visit my parents last weekend. They have dogs. That fact has always been a sore spot for me. Now I know it sounds childish, but they view their (newly acquired) pets as part of the family. And not just any part of the family-an integral part of the family. For example, while in the middle of a somewhat serious conversation my mom interrupts to tell my dad that one of the dogs has a leaf on his lip that he can't get off. It effectively ended the conversation. I don't think she was trying to end the conversation, and I even think that her goal wasn't to be rude. My mom reminds me of a new parent who can't sit though a normal conversation without being constantly distracted with something the baby is doing.
It's probably not fair that I'm bothered by this. I don't care that it may not be fair-I feel put out, like I'm less important than her dogs. Not only am I and my husband less important, but my children as well. They got on to my daughter for accidentally bumping one of their dogs under the chin with a hoola hoop. They got bothered that she didn't immediately throw down the hoop and apologize to the dog. It's a dog! He didn't get hurt-he unhooked his chin and went about his business. Maybe that's what I'm supposed to learn here. Unhook my chin so to speak and just let it go. And perhaps that's the goal, but right now I don't like feeling like to them my family is less important than their pets.
In the past I've said that I don't like dogs. But I realized something on this trip and that is, I don't like certain types of dog people. Not all people act like that and certainly the dogs haven't done anything to deserve my blaming them. I might have just fallen very close to the tree, and think the world revolves around me. I hope I break the cycle just enough to see animals as pets and not as more important than my family.
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