The Sock & The Pig

My kids have a history of insulting people's dogs. They always seem to choose childless people who spend copious amounts of money on expensive breeds on which they lavish affection and pride. Then my kids come along and reduce their costly companions to something cheap and offensive.

First there was our elderly, next door neighbor in Berea, who lived alone with her two daschunds. She walked them several times a day, and during one such walk she ran across Hannah and me as we were getting in the car. Hannah, then two, yelled, "Look Mom! A sock!" while pointing to the brown daschund. Our neighbor huffed at us before turning on her heels and going off in the opposite direction.

I've heard people call them "hot dogs," but I think Hannah was dead-on. They do look like walking socks.

Then, today, John Matthew saw a neighbor walking what I think was a little corgi. John and I were in the front yard raking leaves. John saw the dog and said, "Look Mom! A pig!" Our neighbor (and also a college trustee--ouch) shot me a wounded look and picked up the pace. I asked John why he called it a pig. "Because it's fat and has short little ears that stick up and it doesn't have a tail," he told me.

If someday I get the golden retriever I'm longing for, these folks will be able to get their revenge. (Though what on earth could you say a beautiful golden retriever looks like??)

B.