Parenting Mistake Turned Victorious!

Good afternoon, happy Sunday and GO COWBOYS!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend. This is the first weekend Justin and I have been at home this month, so we have thoroughly enjoyed the time to get a few things done around town and around the house. 

As many of you know and have seen from previous posts, Justin and I are already the parents of two labs named Maci (chocolate) and Max (yellow). They provide us with equal amounts of frustration, laughter and love on most days, but recently they have also decided to become quite the entertainers with their evening productions.

Every evening when we get home from work the pups come in from a long day in the dog run and are ready to relax on their pillows. They each have a special pillow that sits in the corner of our living room where they must lay in order to be in the house. This was something we did to start the "baby-training." We figured if we could give them their own spot this would help minimize on the chaos and confusion that often ensues when they are left to their own decisiveness. 

Here is a picture of both Maci and Max on their respective pillows. To make the learning curve a bit easier on the pups we added their names to the pillows and just in case reading wasn't quite their thing we also added colored lab patches to attach to each pillow. There should be no confusion right? It should be very clear, chocolate lab picture and M-A-C-I= Maci's pillow and yellow lab picture and M-A-X= Max's pillow. Well... Justin and I realized not long after we purchased these pillows that we had made a very critical parenting mistake... our first of many more to come I am sure...

WE BOUGHT DIFFERENT SIZE PILLOWS! We didn't give our children the SAME thing. We WERE NOT FAIR OR EQUAL... sigh! Because Maci is a good 35 lbs. smaller than Max, we bought a pillow for a dog that fit her weight range and same for Max.  I've told you before that Maci is the brains of the operation and Max the heart, so it didn't take long for Maci to realize that her YOUNGER brother, though bigger (not her fault he's a fat kid) has definitely received the better end of the deal. She's old, she's paid her dues, she wants a king-sized bed dang it! 

For months now, being the crafty dog that she is, after she and Max get all settled in Maci stands up and stretches off her pillow, takes a few steps forward as if she were continuing the "stretch." Max perks up and thinks she's about to be on the move. She takes a few more steps confirming Max's suspicions that she in fact was off to explore the great blue yonder. Max too steps off his pillow. Maci circles back behind him and plops down on his bed... Sucker! She nestles her way into the lap of luxury she so clearly deserves and tells poor Max to enjoy life "on the couch." Submissive and afraid to rock the ship, Max takes his place on Maci's pillow, curling up in the tiniest of balls and sighs himself to sleep. But don't fret...the story does not end here!

About three weeks ago, Max decided he had had it! He decided he would no longer fall for those tricks anymore, but again (poor thing) he's not the brightest so he does still occasionally get tricked, BUT instead of conceding to the other pillow he goes and plops himself right next to her in an attempt to reclaim his territory. And the stare-down begins... check out his determination!!

Max does not like confrontation nor does he like to upset ANYONE, especially not his older sister Mace, so this was no easy feat for him. He's our little Rosa Parks, refusing to give up what was rightfully his!  After the first night he tried this new tactic, he has become increasingly more confident in his decision to retain his domain. 

Just last night Maci squeaked by him and got on his pillow and he again sat down right next to her, almost on top of her. Justin was in the kitchen getting cookies out of the oven which would usually ensure that both dogs would be under his feet within minutes of hearing the oven door open, but not last night. Neither one of them would budge...no one was giving in! And along came the stare-down...

Lucky for Max, Maci is a typical girl and likes her "own space" so she eventually left the love-fest and retreated to her own pillow, leaving Max to his palace! VICTORY!!

So while we understand that this little sibling rivalry could certainly have been avoided, God had bigger plans for Max. This lapse in our parenting-skills gave Max the perfect opportunity to work on his confidence and become the dog he was made to be. My prayer now is that our Caden parenting mistakes turn out as well as this one and of course provide us with the same amount of entertainment! :)

I'll leave you with a 34 week-picture of Caden and I. Yesterday, Justin and I went to a baby shower and figured we'd capture a belly pic when I wasn't rolling off the couch after a nap! 

Not sure if we'll get another blog in before Thanksgiving, so if we don't we wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! We'll be sure to update you on our cross-Texas travels when we get home on Sunday!