The Dog Licked Him
Kids don’t come with instructions. Yes, we all say that but there are the incessant helps that you get from friends, from strangers, from parents (lots of help from parents). Seems like an encyclopedia of instructions.
“Don’t take them out of the house the first six weeks of their life.”
“Keep them bundled tightly.”
“They don’t need all those clothes. Loosen their clothes. Let them breathe, for Pete’s sake. “
“ They are not ready for solid food yet.”
“He’s too young to walk.”
“Looks like he is ready to walk,; gotta walk him daily.”
“If you don’t sterilize that, they can get germs, causes colic, you know. “
“ Keep their head covered. Don’t feed them that. Keep those animals away.”
And then you finally take them into the real world, whether that is sitting on your germ-infested carpet, or in the buggy back yard or in that slimy grocery cart and just sitting in their stroller minding their own business.
When life happens. Suddenly the biggest, sweetest dog on the planet licks them full square in the mouth, leaving drool all over his face. Unimagined germs and bacteria unleashed on the world.
And that precious protected little lump of humanity throws his hands up in the air and smiles the smile of the ecstatic. Brilliant and unfettered from the land of instructions. Just life worth living.
No emergency room visits follow. No fevers. No chronic conditions unless you count a love affair with that hairy creature that is more pure and healthy than most human contact.
I love this post. The pure joy of dog + human. Nice!