Finding My Mojo

I wouldn't make any sudden movements if I were you, he's viscous. Meet "Mojo", the newest member of our family and now the official mascot of the "Buckle Up & Ride" blog. He has been with us since Easter Sunday, damn that Easter bunny!

Let me give you some background. It's common when people get married to each bring something to the relationship, in today's world it's debt, but we each brought a dog. Kimberly had a Golden Retriever named Copper and I had a Yellow Lab named Max. This union worked well, they chewed the house up together, barked incessantly together and played let's dig under the fence and escape four times a week together. It was a match made in heaven. After two full re-sods of the lawn and the addition of two children, we realized it was to much. We both found great homes for each dog and called it quits. It was not easy, but it was the best not just for us, but for them as well. We vowed then never to have another dog.

Over the past four "dog free" years, we have moved into a new home, had a third child, and successfully created a beautiful backyard. It's been great. Kimberly and I spend evenings sitting on the porch watching the kids play in the thick green grass. I've been waiting for this moment for 10 years.

"Free Labradoodle" That's what the sign at our son's school said. I told myself to keep walking, but something drew me back. I reluctantly, but excitedly scribbled the phone number onto my hand. I knew there was no chance in hell Kimberly would go for it, you see, she's the level headed one, I'm the "what the hell" one. I left her a voice mail with all the details, and to my surprise she called back with intrigue, now I was worried. We did our research over the next week or so and decided to pull the trigger. It was for the kids, you know...

We had decided to surprise the kids with him on Easter Sunday. We had it all planned out, Kimberly and I had gone to Pet Smart and bought all the essentials. (It was at that moment I realized why I hadn't missed not having a dog.) It was like Christmas, we hid everything in the storage shed and giggled in anticipation over the kids reactions. Personally, I was hoping for a "Americas Funniest Home Videos" reaction where the kids scream uncontrollably and run around in circles. It turned out a little differently. Our 7 year old was interested for 2 minutes, then went back to blowing his duck call. Our 3 year old got angry when we told him he couldn't ride him like a horse and our 1 year old baby girl, well, she fell in love immediately. 1 our of 3 ain't bad...

It's been 6 days since Mojo arrived. In that time we have had torrential rain, house rattling thunder, lightning and a power outage, it's been crazy. But he's hung in there, only one accident in the house (1 to many for mom) and he loves being in his kennel. He sleeps all night and loves going on walks. The other two kids are really warming up to him also. Just don't tell my 3 year old that he will be getting bigger, it makes him cry.

I still don't know what drew us to take this chance, but I'm glad we did. Seeing the kids smile makes it all worth while.