Feb 15, 2011

Lulu stays with us!

Divorce and General Articles

OK so we are splitting up the household items, the savings accounts, the children’s time, the friends in some cases, the holidays, but what about the dog? 

Now first let me tell you that Lulu is a sweet girl, does not bark, is very well house trained, and does not chew on things that she shouldn’t.  She also sheds A LOT, smells sometimes, and needs to be walked every day at least three times a day no matter how cold, rainy, icy, or just plain yucky it is out.  That being said, I want Lulu because the idea of being alone when the children go to their dads house a terrible thought, and he wants Lulu for the same reason.  We then thought about swapping Lulu with the children, when the children are with me Lulu is with their dad, and when the children are with their dad Lulu is with me.  Great idea right!  WRONG, oh so wrong.  When the children got wind of this plan you would have thought that the third world war was about to break out!  There was some arguing, some reasoning, and some begging, but it all came to a stop when our youngest blurted out, “this divorce was your idea, we didn’t have a choice, but Lulu…Lulu stays with us!  Where we go Lulu goes she is OUR DOG!”  WOW, was she ever right, how selfish I was being with out even realizing it.  They didn’t have a lot of say in anything that was going on, and though their father and I were trying really hard to think about what was in their best interest we were not seeing how though this shift would be in their best interest in the long run all the security that they had come to know was slipping away from them.  Lulu could be the constant, she was OUR dog, and we would have her move from home to home with the children so that security was always there. 

We now find that it is nice to sleep in on a Saturday morning when the children are with their other parent and we don’t have to get up and walk her, we find it is great to take Lulu with us on our family outings, and it is no big deal to “babysit” Lulu if the other parent is taking the children somewhere that Lulu is a welcome addition.  Lulu is OUR dog, and Lulu has made this transition a bit easier for the children then one might expect, she is my family hero!