For the past two to three weeks, Audrey has reminded us every day that she either wants a pet or a new baby brother (or sister, depending on her mood). She’s fairly persistent in the pet area and would absolutely adore a cat, but I’ve told her numerous times that both of her parents are allergic to cats. She then asks for a dog knowing that we’ve never mentioned allergies to dogs before. The truth is, I really want a dog too so I’ve started the process of adopting a rescued Golden Retriever. We have our home visit next Tuesday night. I haven’t actually told her about this because I don’t need to be reminded of it on a consistent basis. I mean what happens if we don’t get approved or if we have to wait a few months to get the “perfect” dog for our family?
The other part of the equation is the desire to be a big sibling. She notices families a lot more lately and it really peaks her interest when there is more than one child. She reminds me constantly that all of her classmates have brothers and sisters and even points them out as I pick her up. “See mommy, there’s baby E and there’s baby F. Aren’t A and C lucky to be big sisters?” Yes, it tugs at my heart strings, but no, we haven’t changed our mind about having an only.
She is very excited to meet her baby cousin, but he won’t be born for another three months. She gets that babies come from mommy’s tummy as she told me the other day “I wish Liam would come out of Aunt Katie’s tummy now. I really want to play with him.” I mention this, because our conversation Tuesday started out normal and went quickly to bizarre. Again she brought up the fact that she would like a cat and once again I told her “no.” “Then can we just order a baby brother?” she asked.
“Order a baby brother? Where would we order a baby brother?”
“We can order it from the pizza guy and then he can bring it right to our door.”
Holding back laughter, I explained that a pizza guy wouldn’t be able to bring a baby to our door and people don’t just “order” babies. I heard a loud sigh from the backseat followed by “How ‘bout just a dog then?”
Last night I was recounting this story to my husband when Audrey chimed in with “We could order the baby from a catalogue if the pizza guy can’t bring us one. We can order a baby brother and we can name him Dongo.” This time my husband reminded her that we have a very special family even without a baby brother. Then she gave him her big ol’ grey eyes and pouty lip and said “Than can we please get a dog, daddy?” He said that we were thinking of getting a dog and that it would be a big responsibility but it would probably make us all very happy. With a giant smile, she whispered in response “How about three dogs, daddy? One for me, one for mommy and one for you then we can be really really REALLY happy.” Don’t be surprised if you one day end up buying a used-car with two extended warranties from this child; she’s one heck of a saleswoman.
