This is the first round. Write down your memories of the campaign to get a dog. As a special addition please give a couple of memories from Christmas this past year.
I'm am happy that we are playing the game now. That is pretty much how we were thinking the game should be played. If we can think of a good way to score or judge then that could be fun too.
Campaign for a dog. 1. I remember a meeting in the sunroom where we the children presented a chart that we made of all the pro's and con's of getting a dog. I dont remember most of that list but I specifically remember one of the pros was that we would get free fertilizer. I believe this was the same meeting where we pulled out the big guns...Fritz dog tags. These were found during regular searching through mom's shiny stuff in her bathroom drawer. 2. I know that we made some trips to see different dogs. Christian was one of the main researchers in the project and I think he wanted a begal. I know we went to see some begal dogs but we decided that they bark too much. 3. They day that we got spiff was april fools day. I believe Mom had just told Dad that we were not going to get a dog. I also don't know how we ended up going to look at the shelties but I remember being at the house and seeing the dogs. Spiff had the scratch on his nose from going under a fence. He was a pure bread show dog but his rear end was up a little too high so he would not be a great show dog (thinking about it now maybe there was a discount on him because of that?). Well we took him home and on the car ride we decided his name was Capricious Jest Spiff. That is what I remember.
Christmas 2007 This was the year that Emily came to visit and I they let me take their engagement photos which was fun. I also remember that is was warm because when I went to get the girls from honey-baked ham I was in my shorts and a t-shirt from playing racquetball and they made me wait for like 10 minuets outside. As far as racquetball is concerned I was able to score on Dad. He may or may not have been playing left handed.
Campaign for a dog. Christian Style: I specifically remember going over to the Kunz family with a notebook and asking for the pros and cons of having a dog. Brother Kunz was using Cloe as a pillow and that was one of the pros. I don't remember the other families that we interviewed. Could have been the Winn Family. They were Dog proponents. 2. Dad never wanted a dog. Megan, Darren and I tried to leverage Mom's love of dogs against Dad. Looking back I think Mom is the one who was using us. I think she was subtly encuraging us to over power dad. Clever mom, clever. 3. April 1st Mom was in tears and called dad at work. She told him we had been looking for dogs and had not been able to find one. She told dad on the phone that we were just not going to get one. Megan and I raised to the challenge and gave a mighty push to go looking one more time. Then we got Spiff. 4. The first night we got Spiff, Mom and Dad were gone and we did not have any pet food. Spiff was whining so we thought he was hungry. We put him on the kitchen counter and feed him our macaroni and Cheese. He got really sick that night. 5. We kids took turns staying up nights in the TV room to take care of the whining puppy spiff. It was rather terrible. Spiff would cry all night long. 6. We made a lot of promises in order to get Spiff. We promised to feed him, clean up after him and walk him every day. Oh the promises of a child:)
So I honestly have no idea what the campaign to get a dog was but I am going to give it a shot. How would you all campaign to get a dog? Well, Megan probably promised mom and dad that she would get straight A's for life if they would get her a dog. Christian probably came up with a business plan to prove to mom and dad that the dog could some how be profitable. Darren probably took a bunch of pictures of the cutest dogs in town to show mom and dad. Preston probably told mom and dad that he needed to practice frisbee with someone who could catch. Kaylene probably just looked at mom and dad with her own puppy dog eyes and asked politely. And finally, Becca probably challenged dad to an arm wrestle and won. With all that, they just couldn't say no.
My memory is very limited on this one. But I do remember sitting on the right seat on the middle bench of the Astro van. Everyone disputed on a dog name. I also remember sitting in a living room floor and playing with a bunch of puppies. When we first brought Spiff home we put him in a baby play crib in the sunroom. That was wierd for me. Were we going to give him a bottle and rattle too? A year or so later I got a new Mickey Mouse shirt, and was so excited to show it to Spiff. I had learned that dogs only see in black in white, and since Mickey Mouse fit that category I knew that Spiff would enjoy seeing it.
I remember talking to James Coughlin one day many years ago and he commented that one thing he had never done was get a dog. He thought that was good advice! For years I kept that advice and firmly and clearly stated that we could not and would not get a dog.
At one time the kids (Megan, Christian, Darren and Preston) went around to neighborhood and received signatures from the neighbors petitioning us as parents to relent and get a dog. This was nice but did not persuade me to change my mind - even a little. The answer was a clear no. Promises of spending time with the dog, walking the dog daily, feeding and grooming the dog and the love the dog would bring to our home and the satisfaction each of our children would have petting, loving, and talking to the dog did not sway me.
I remember coming into the house to see the happy children in the sun room touching, talking to, and petting this small furry thing that could only be a dog. I wondered whose dog this could be but to my complete surprise I found out it was mine.
I must admit that I loved the dog even though I never really liked it.
I’ve always loved pets and had many as a child. My parents supported me in this to some extent but were not too happy when I begged for a dog. They relented but never really liked having a dog in the house. As an adult I came to feel the same way. Why would I want a dog chewing up the nice things Harold and I worked so hard to acquire? Still it was with some mixed feelings that I parroted the party line that we “could not and would not get a dog.” Part of me still liked the idea. Several of the children had allergies so that made it easier to say no. Then we did allergy testing and discovered that they were allergic to cats, not dogs.
As the children’s campaign intensified I found myself working for both sides. I think it might have been spring break so this became a fun project for the kids. It seems that Christian was the ringleader. I researched the different breeds along with them. We started just looking. It was April Fools day when we had looked but not found that perfect puppy. Relieved, I called Harold and told him we were not getting a dog. Then we found one more place to look. There we found the perfect dog for our family. He was a little sheltie. The kids named him Spiff after the Calvin and Hobbs character, “Spaceman Spiff.” We also had to pick a formal name for him as he was pure bread with papers. We officially named him Capricious Jest which is what it surely must have seemed to Harold when he came home and found a dog in the house.
I recall that we all worked hard to get Mom convinced that we needed a dog. Normally I would mock Mom for making a decision over and over, but in this case I am glad she waivered enough to be swayed by the children. We had researched different breeds of dogs and finally decided on a Sheltie. On April 1st we did go and pick out Spiff from the litter at the breeder's house. I never quite understood why it was important to have a pure bred. Though I guess if Mom was going to give in a get a dog, she was going for quality. We like Spiff immediately becuase he was moving around and kind of hyper. This made him stick out of the group, but it probably also heralded his behaviour for the next years -- he always was hyper. We took the dog home and joked what a good April Fool's joke this would be for Dad. As we got home, mom had some meeting that night and so did dad and we didn't have time to stop and get dog food. The breeder had said that it was important that the dog only have a certain type of food since he was so young. So mom told me to call Grandpa Jones and have him take us to the store to get dog food. I called Grandpa and he said that dogs just eat what people eat: potatoes, meat, vegetables. I countered that we had to go get dog food. But Grandpa said that wasn't necessary, to just feed him what we ate that night. So I did. I put in a pan of Stoffer's Macaroni and cheese for dinner and we set Spiff up on the counter and he ate Macaroni and cheese with us. I had a bad about it, but what can you do? It wasn't long before Spiff, who we let run all over in our excitement of getting a dog, had the runs all over the carpet.
I was not really around when the older kids were campaigning to get Spiff, but I am here to say the campaign has not ended! I have begged and pleaded for a dog ever since I came home from grade school and Spiff was not there anymore. Every Birthday and holiday I ask for a dog and make a point of asking at least every month in between if not every week. The campaign will not end until I actually get a dog!
8 comments:
I'm am happy that we are playing the game now. That is pretty much how we were
thinking the game should be played. If we can think of a good way to score or
judge then that could be fun too.
Campaign for a dog.
1. I remember a meeting in the sunroom where we the children presented a chart
that we made of all the pro's and con's of getting a dog. I dont remember most
of that list but I specifically remember one of the pros was that we would get
free fertilizer. I believe this was the same meeting where we pulled out the
big guns...Fritz dog tags. These were found during regular searching through
mom's shiny stuff in her bathroom drawer.
2. I know that we made some trips to see different dogs. Christian was one of
the main researchers in the project and I think he wanted a begal. I know we
went to see some begal dogs but we decided that they bark too much.
3. They day that we got spiff was april fools day. I believe Mom had just told
Dad that we were not going to get a dog. I also don't know how we ended up going to look at the shelties but I remember being at the
house and seeing the dogs. Spiff had the scratch on his nose from going under a
fence. He was a pure bread show dog but his rear end was up a little too high
so he would not be a great show dog (thinking about it now maybe there was a
discount on him because of that?). Well we took him home and on the car ride we
decided his name was Capricious Jest Spiff.
That is what I remember.
Christmas 2007
This was the year that Emily came to visit and I they let me take their
engagement photos which was fun. I also remember that is was warm because when
I went to get the girls from honey-baked ham I was in my shorts and a t-shirt
from playing racquetball and they made me wait for like 10 minuets outside. As
far as racquetball is concerned I was able to score on Dad. He may or may not
have been playing left handed.
Campaign for a dog. Christian Style:
I specifically remember going over to the Kunz family with a notebook and asking for the pros and cons of having a dog. Brother Kunz was using Cloe as a pillow and that was one of the pros. I don't remember the other families that we interviewed. Could have been the Winn Family. They were Dog proponents.
2. Dad never wanted a dog. Megan, Darren and I tried to leverage Mom's love of dogs against Dad. Looking back I think Mom is the one who was using us. I think she was subtly encuraging us to over power dad. Clever mom, clever.
3. April 1st Mom was in tears and called dad at work. She told him we had been looking for dogs and had not been able to find one. She told dad on the phone that we were just not going to get one. Megan and I raised to the challenge and gave a mighty push to go looking one more time. Then we got Spiff.
4. The first night we got Spiff, Mom and Dad were gone and we did not have any pet food. Spiff was whining so we thought he was hungry. We put him on the kitchen counter and feed him our macaroni and Cheese. He got really sick that night.
5. We kids took turns staying up nights in the TV room to take care of the whining puppy spiff. It was rather terrible. Spiff would cry all night long.
6. We made a lot of promises in order to get Spiff. We promised to feed him, clean up after him and walk him every day. Oh the promises of a child:)
So I honestly have no idea what the campaign to get a dog was but I am going to give it a shot. How would you all campaign to get a dog? Well, Megan probably promised mom and dad that she would get straight A's for life if they would get her a dog. Christian probably came up with a business plan to prove to mom and dad that the dog could some how be profitable. Darren probably took a bunch of pictures of the cutest dogs in town to show mom and dad. Preston probably told mom and dad that he needed to practice frisbee with someone who could catch. Kaylene probably just looked at mom and dad with her own puppy dog eyes and asked politely. And finally, Becca probably challenged dad to an arm wrestle and won. With all that, they just couldn't say no.
My memory is very limited on this one. But I do remember sitting on the right seat on the middle bench of the Astro van. Everyone disputed on a dog name. I also remember sitting in a living room floor and playing with a bunch of puppies. When we first brought Spiff home we put him in a baby play crib in the sunroom. That was wierd for me. Were we going to give him a bottle and rattle too? A year or so later I got a new Mickey Mouse shirt, and was so excited to show it to Spiff. I had learned that dogs only see in black in white, and since Mickey Mouse fit that category I knew that Spiff would enjoy seeing it.
Kaylene Jones
Harold
I remember talking to James Coughlin one day many years ago and he commented that one thing he had never done was get a dog. He thought that was good advice! For years I kept that advice and firmly and clearly stated that we could not and would not get a dog.
At one time the kids (Megan, Christian, Darren and Preston) went around to neighborhood and received signatures from the neighbors petitioning us as parents to relent and get a dog. This was nice but did not persuade me to change my mind - even a little. The answer was a clear no. Promises of spending time with the dog, walking the dog daily, feeding and grooming the dog and the love the dog would bring to our home and the satisfaction each of our children would have petting, loving, and talking to the dog did not sway me.
I remember coming into the house to see the happy children in the sun room touching, talking to, and petting this small furry thing that could only be a dog. I wondered whose dog this could be but to my complete surprise I found out it was mine.
I must admit that I loved the dog even though I never really liked it.
Sharon
I’ve always loved pets and had many as a child. My parents supported me in this to some extent but were not too happy when I begged for a dog. They relented but never really liked having a dog in the house. As an adult I came to feel the same way. Why would I want a dog chewing up the nice things Harold and I worked so hard to acquire? Still it was with some mixed feelings that I parroted the party line that we “could not and would not get a dog.” Part of me still liked the idea. Several of the children had allergies so that made it easier to say no. Then we did allergy testing and discovered that they were allergic to cats, not dogs.
As the children’s campaign intensified I found myself working for both sides. I think it might have been spring break so this became a fun project for the kids. It seems that Christian was the ringleader. I researched the different breeds along with them. We started just looking. It was April Fools day when we had looked but not found that perfect puppy. Relieved, I called Harold and told him we were not getting a dog. Then we found one more place to look. There we found the perfect dog for our family. He was a little sheltie. The kids named him Spiff after the Calvin and Hobbs character, “Spaceman Spiff.” We also had to pick a formal name for him as he was pure bread with papers. We officially named him Capricious Jest which is what it surely must have seemed to Harold when he came home and found a dog in the house.
I recall that we all worked hard to get Mom convinced that we needed a dog. Normally I would mock Mom for making a decision over and over, but in this case I am glad she waivered enough to be swayed by the children. We had researched different breeds of dogs and finally decided on a Sheltie. On April 1st we did go and pick out Spiff from the litter at the breeder's house. I never quite understood why it was important to have a pure bred. Though I guess if Mom was going to give in a get a dog, she was going for quality. We like Spiff immediately becuase he was moving around and kind of hyper. This made him stick out of the group, but it probably also heralded his behaviour for the next years -- he always was hyper. We took the dog home and joked what a good April Fool's joke this would be for Dad. As we got home, mom had some meeting that night and so did dad and we didn't have time to stop and get dog food. The breeder had said that it was important that the dog only have a certain type of food since he was so young. So mom told me to call Grandpa Jones and have him take us to the store to get dog food. I called Grandpa and he said that dogs just eat what people eat: potatoes, meat, vegetables. I countered that we had to go get dog food. But Grandpa said that wasn't necessary, to just feed him what we ate that night. So I did. I put in a pan of Stoffer's Macaroni and cheese for dinner and we set Spiff up on the counter and he ate Macaroni and cheese with us. I had a bad about it, but what can you do? It wasn't long before Spiff, who we let run all over in our excitement of getting a dog, had the runs all over the carpet.
I was not really around when the older kids were campaigning to get Spiff, but I am here to say the campaign has not ended! I have begged and pleaded for a dog ever since I came home from grade school and Spiff was not there anymore. Every Birthday and holiday I ask for a dog and make a point of asking at least every month in between if not every week. The campaign will not end until I actually get a dog!
Post a Comment