Today, while I was at Zachary’s school to pick him up, I got a compliment from one of his classmates. “Your socks are AWESOME!” Honest, passionate, and unsolicited compliments are the best. It picked me up on a day when little girl is teething and my allergies are horrible. It gave me pause in my hurried day to thank him and it got me thinking about how toddlers and dogs have a lot in common.
They’re curious. Dogs will sniff, lick, stare at, bark at, dig up, and explore anything that is unfamiliar to them. Little humans do the same thing. Jillian spent twenty minutes the other day, with her back to the window, exploring the shadow that her body created on the floor. She’s screeched and squealed with delight in every stairwell since she figured out they usually echo. Zachary has tasted dirt, blueberries, a spider, tuna, and toilet water. He only liked the dirt enough to try it a second time. As I write this, he’s sitting beside me (not) eating his lunch. Instead, he’s peeled the label off a bottle of water and has been, for the past 3 or so minutes, sticking and unsticking his hair to the glue that remains from peeling off the label. Why? “Because it’s a cool sound. Listen!”
They’re genuine. If a toddler compliments my socks, or a dog appears happy to see me when I enter a room, I know I never have to doubt their authenticity. Dogs don’t deal in favors. Kids can’t be fake (they are pretty awesome socks).
They’re exuberant. Everything they do, they do all the way. If you want to go to the park, run there like you’re being chased by a bear. If you’re hungry, eat like it’s your last meal or your siblings want to steal it (they might, you know!). If you love someone, love with reckless abandon. Love like you haven’t been hurt or rejected. Right now. Without fear. Tell them. Hug them. Kiss them. Smile so wide it moves your ears. Wag your tail until your butt wiggles. Bring them their own dirty underwear as a present or make them a ripped toilet paper roll bracelet that doesn’t fit. In everything you do, love.
I hope to get a Wiff Pup some day soon so we can show Zachary and Jillian the love and lessons that life growing up with a dog provides. I also hope that they will stay like dogs forever; never ceasing to be curious, maintaining the courage to be their authentic selves in all they do, and choosing to love as if it isn’t a choice at all.
~Wiff Love
Wiff Love 