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I’m sitting at my kitchen table as I write this, staring at my disaster of a house and wondering what hurricane hit.

It all started when Farley was hanging around the kitchen, bumping into my legs at every step, trying to get at the bacon I was frying. I shooed him into the living room where Lizzie was playing. She greeted him with delight and grabbed him by the ears. While trying to shake her off, he knocked over the big dieffenbachia plant by the window. By the time I’d pulled out the vacuum cleaner from the hall closet, Lizzie had dumped a glass of water into the pile of dirt on the floor and was gleefully making mud pies. Farley tramped in the wet dirt, and then ran all around the living room.

I can only shake my head at our foolishness in taking on a new puppy while we still have a baby in diapers. It’s like having two toddlers instead of one in the house. John likes to joke about how much Lizzie and Farley have in common. As he points out, both baby and puppy wake us up at night, both are turning out to be a challenge to housebreak, and both can do a LOT of damage in short order.

Of course, there are differences. In some ways, I’d have to say that dog trumps kids. For example:
• We don’t have to change Farley’s diapers, just boot him outside to the back yard as soon as he gets that thoughtful look. (That Look is the same, puppy or baby!)
• Farley eats whatever I put in front of him, with enthusiasm. I can’t say the same for either of my children.
• Farley will never complain about the clothes I pick for him to wear to school. In fact, we don’t need to buy him any clothes or send him to school. Nor will we ever have to deal with back-talk from him, argue about bedtime, or throw him any birthday parties. After Michael’s last one, when one of the kids found the barbeque lighter and almost set fire to the couch, that is not a small point!
• In moments of crisis, John and I can swear in front of Farley, totally guilt-free. We can kiss while he’s around, too, or snuggle on the couch, without him staring at us in horror or making gagging noises.
• Farley will never blurt out any embarrassing family stories. This is totally unlike Michael, who once informed an interested group of older ladies that Mommy makes really funny noises in the bathroom. Needless to say, the conversation went downhill from there.

Still, babies do have some advantages over pets. We can expect them to outlive us, which is a major plus. Best of all, someday they will be taking care of us, changing our diapers and throwing us birthday parties! When that day comes, I may even try to set fire to the couch, just for old times’ sake.
In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy this cup of coffee before I worry about scrubbing the last bits of mud from the rug. It’s a rare moment of peace. Farley is stretched out on the rug, basking in a pool of late winter sunshine. Lizzie is sprawled on top of him, sound asleep. They look like angels.

The two of them constantly remind me that there are more important things in life than having a spotless house or even getting my eight hours of sleep at night. Marginally more important, I feel at times. But then I see them like this and know that, all in all, life is good!