{"id":537,"date":"2020-08-28T05:00:10","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/?p=537"},"modified":"2020-08-27T21:35:38","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T05:35:38","slug":"just-let-me-have-a-nap-then-i-can-conquer-the-world-or-at-least-potty-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/2020\/08\/28\/just-let-me-have-a-nap-then-i-can-conquer-the-world-or-at-least-potty-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Let Me Have a Nap, then I Can Conquer the World. Or at Least Potty Training."},"content":{"rendered":"

2020 is an ongoing trash fire.\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s just a fact.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s easy to get bogged down in it, to decide there\u2019s no damn use, to just…sink under the weight of it all. Like most people, I\u2019m barely getting through the day. Taking on more<\/i> responsibility seemed crazy.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019d been thinking for a while about getting a dog. And when the older of my two cats passed this spring, and I moved into my own place, it seemed like maybe now was the time?<\/p>\n

So I started looking at shelters, putting in applications for dogs who matched what I wanted: a young adult, mid-sized and solidly built, who was cat-friendly. \u00a0 <\/span>Each time, I lost out because there is a scarcity of cat-friendly pups available after the great Lockdown Pup Adoption Frenzy.\u00a0 <\/span>So, meh, I figured it would take a while.<\/p>\n

Then one of the shelters I’d applied to reached out and asked me if I’d be interested in fostering, since they knew I did that for Homeward Pet.\u00a0 <\/span>And I said, sure, why not?\u00a0 <\/span>And they said, “we have 8-week-old puppies.”\u00a0 <\/span>And I said, “sure, why not?”\u00a0 <\/span>Because I’m an idiot like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re 8-week-old Red Heelers,\u201d they said.\u00a0 <\/span>And I said, \u201coh hell.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Because that kind of high-energy, high-attention critter was very much not<\/i> what I was looking for.<\/p>\n

And then I saw the picture of “Minnie” and I may have lost a bit of my heart to her.\u00a0 <\/span>So I agreed, and the night before my birthday, a transport of twenty-four (yes, 24) pups, including Minnie and her litter mates, arrived, and were parceled out to the waiting fosters.<\/p>\n

Dear Reader, I may have known what I was agreeing to, but I had no idea what I was getting into.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Minnie (whom I immediately dubbed the more accurate \u201cMaxi\u201d) is a delightful, adorable, slightly clumsy, and surprisingly thoughtful creature, and I already adore her.\u00a0 <\/span>But she. Has. To. Pee. Every. Three. Hours.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Which isn\u2019t a problem during the daytime. Having enforced breaks to get up and stretch my legs has been nice, actually.\u00a0 <\/span>But at night?\u00a0 <\/span>At night it\u2019s a different story.<\/p>\n

And no, I can\u2019t let her pee in her crate.\u00a0 <\/span>Or, I could, but it\u2019s a bad idea, for many reasons, and I\u2019m not going to do that.\u00a0 <\/span>So I\u2019m setting my alarm, and getting up at midnight, and again at 3am, and again at 6am\u2026.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only been three days, and I\u2019m beyond exhausted.\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019ve got a book I need to revise, and a couple of short stories to write, and a day gig, and a regime to protest.\u00a0 <\/span>And a cat who is being really good about all this but also wants his Human Time.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are times I just want to sink.<\/p>\n

But.\u00a0 <\/span>In the midst of the trash fire that is 2020, there\u2019s something kind of amazing about having this fresh, fragile, trusting life in your hands.\u00a0 <\/span>About knowing that you can do it right, and make sure they get a solid start to life, to grow up confident, unafraid, and loving.\u00a0 <\/span>Healthy, and happy.<\/p>\n

And to know that whatever you do is returned to you, immediately.\u00a0 <\/span>Because when I stagger to the crate at 3am, I\u2019m greeted by a warm, wriggly bundle of sheer joy, who wants only to lick my face – and pee, yeah, but first, there needs to be face licking.<\/p>\n

And between kitten snuggles and puppy kisses, I’m able to think not just about surviving, but thriving<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If she’d just stop licking my face so I can work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2020 is an ongoing trash fire.\u00a0 That\u2019s just a fact.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to get bogged down in it, to decide there\u2019s no damn use, to just…sink under the weight of it all. Like most people, I\u2019m barely getting through the day. Taking on more responsibility seemed crazy. But I\u2019d been thinking for a while about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[117,96],"class_list":["post-537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals-pets","tag-fostering","tag-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":539,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions\/539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}