Being an Adult Sucks! Especially When Puppies Are Involved!

There are moments in parenting where you think, “Wow… we must be doing something right.”

Saturday night was one of those moments. Our 16-year-old daughter came home early. No drama. No late-night text. No “just five more minutes.” Just… home. The next day she had to work so we assumed we had the perfectly responsible teenage daughter. We looked at each other, slightly confused but mostly impressed.

“Wow,” we thought. “Responsible. Mature. This is what progress looks like.” Yeah… that feeling didn’t last very long. A little while later, we heard something.

Not loud. Not obvious. Just a faint sound—almost like a whimper.

At first, we weren’t even sure what it was. Maybe something outside? Maybe the house settling?

Then it happened again.

A soft, unmistakable little cry.

We stood up from our Saturday Night Movie...And that’s when we saw it.

A puppy.

Wait what? A f-ing puppy!

Now, to be clear — this was not discussed. Not hinted at. Not even remotely approved. This wasn’t a “Hey, can we get a dog?” situation. This was a full-on surprise delivery. A tiny, curious, completely unaware-of-the-chaos-it-was-causing puppy… sitting there like it belonged. And just like that, our very responsible daughter took a hard left turn.

Our first reaction? “No way.”

Not even a pause. Not even a discussion.

Just… no.

We’ve been down the dog road before. We know what it takes. The time, the attention, the responsibility. And with kids in school, schedules all over the place, and everything else going on in life…We knew this wasn’t something we wanted to take on. We already have an 8 year old mutt who is well settled into our routines. We are already working on our empty nester plans coming in the next few years; that doesn't involve another dog!

Here’s the thing about puppies.

They don’t really care about your plans.

Within minutes, she was exploring.

Sniffing everything. Slipping on the floor.

Ready to "do her business" anywhere that seemed far away, like any corner in any room of the house!

Amazingly. Shockingly. Our 85 pound Pitbull mutt, that barks at anything that comes through our front door was completely silent. No barking. No whining. No WTF is this mom & dad. Nothing. Just nonchalantly staring at this small, squiggly, cute-as-hell, little puppy like it's always been there. How can this be?

Well, our unusually responsible daughters went to "help a friend study" earlier in the day. Seemed normal enough for high schoolers. But they did take the dog with them which was a bit odd. But hey, they never take the dog, so this was an unexpected treat. Right? Okay, so if your a parent reading this you may be shaking your head and thinking: really? Are you that naive? Yes. Yes we were.

Turns out their little homework excursion was actually a trial run to see if Peagle, our current dog ,would get along with the new puppy. Which he apparently did. The kids, of course, were all in. This was the greatest plan ever. It's a puppy. Easy. Feed it, play a little, let it sleep all day.

Right.

Suddenly, every argument for responsibility, schedules, and practicality started to feel a little… negotiable.

“We can make it work.”

“It’s not that much work.”

“We’ll take care of her.”

"You won't have to do anything!"

Right.

We’ve heard it all before. And for a moment—just a moment—you start to wonder. Could we? Should we? But reality has a way of showing up, even when you’d rather it didn’t.

School. Commitments. Travel. Life. The things that don’t pause just because a puppy shows up and steals your heart for a few days.

Well, fortunately, our kids aren't really kids anymore. They're growing up. Our oldest, who brought the dog home, had to work all day the next day. So after some debating and arguing, we are headed to bed. Well turns out puppies don't really like to sleep in crates. So she whined and cried, and what happened? Oh no, parents aren't taking care of her. Little sister is. We may be naive, but we're not stupid. So after about three hours of having the puppy, already responsibility is being passed off.

First night, sleepless.

First pee, in your room.

First poop, on your your rug.

Now this is where being a parent really starts to pay off. The next day, our youngest was supposed to get her nails done and go on a date. Well honey, sorry. You now have a responsibility. Someone's gotta watch the puppy while big sister is at work. Well, if you want to know the quickest way to convince teenage girls they can't have a puppy; have it interfere with their dating and salon life!

So the next day, Sunday, all day, our youngest daughter had to stay home with the puppy. Now don't get me wrong. It was a lot of fun. Watching her run around the garden chase after things. Our dog trying to growl and act tough around her every time she tugged at his tail or got too close.

It was cute as hell.

And really tiring.

Here's a thing with puppies.

They're like babies.

You can't take your eyes off of them.

Not for a minute.

Or your shoes: missing, your plants: turned over, socks: forget about it!

She found her way into the garden and immediately claimed it as her own personal playground. Running in circles. Stopping suddenly for no reason. Trampling our newly planted seedlings and spreading fresh top soil everywhere. Pouncing on absolutely nothing and everything. Those seedlings took two weeks to get to that point. The puppy didn't care. Neither did I — for about four seconds...Until the wife found out.

Then she proudly dragged around garden tools like she had just accomplished something incredible. Which, to be fair, she probably thought she had. And just like that, this

unplanned, completely impractical situation started to feel…Kind of fun. She hopped over our knee wall and promptly got stuck. Watching her struggle to get back over it was too much fun! Honestly, everything she did was so much fun. Okay, peeing in our kitchen not so much.

Over the next couple of days, she settled in like she’d always been there. Following us from room to room. Plopping down wherever we were. Looking up with that expression that somehow says everything and nothing at the same time. One of her ears is permanently bent, always facing forward like someone was playing a joke on her. It was ridiculously adorable. Unfairly adorable.

And incredibly tiring.

So when big sister got back from work… Everyone was happy to dump the little puppy on to her. Well, it turns out trying to do your homework before Monday and watching a two month old puppy doesn't go together too well. After spending a good half hour building a fort of puppy crates, clothes baskets, and bar stools, we had her isolated. Still, not so easy to work with a pup pulling on your socks, trying to jump on the couch, yelping at the petulant human not paying her attention. And of course, making sure she doesn't pee everywhere!

So be it. I'm going to bed and you are on your own. Well my little pup starting whining. "How am I going to work?" "I need to finish this!" Sorry, honey. You didn't ask first. You want a puppy, this is what having a puppy is! Ah, these little moments of revenge for a parent truly are fun sometimes!

The next day is Monday. The little pup slept in the bed with Isabel, our oldest, and the evening was uneventful. I'm sure she loved cuddling with the little pup! But then, they were gone. At school all day. And who's left having to watch and take care of the puppy? Who do you think? If it's loud...dad. If it's dirty...dad. Yup, good ole dad watched her while kids were at school and mom was playing pickle ball.

For the record. My watch went great. No accidents. Lot's of running around and exploring. We played fetch. Explored the front yard. Explored the back yard. Had breakfast. The big dog hiding up stairs ignoring us completely. We even spent some time in my office. About 5 minutes. That was all a puppy could take.

Mom had second shift while dad went to the gym. Just for the record. There were two confirmed accidents on mom's shift. Not too mention a throw-up incident in the car picking up Sierra. Not saying that one of us is more responsible or better at watching puppies. I just happened to remember it. And write it down. And maybe mention it a few times.

And as much as we enjoyed those moments. We knew it wasn't gonna happen. We're parents and we've done the puppy thing once; when our kids will still puppies. It was great. Every moment the girls were home was exciting and fun. They grew up together and our dog, Peagle, is very loved by all. But our oldest will be off to college in just over a year. Then what? 12, 14, 15 more years of taking care of a new dog?

We've spent years making deliberate choices about what our life looks like — what we grow, what we cook, where we go, how we spend our time. A puppy isn't a bad choice. It's just not our choice right now. Stable. Capable. Free. We have the stability. We know we are capable. But we want to be free.

The kids now fully understood this as well. A little responsibility can crush a little of dreams. So this little spur of the moment adoption didn't last very long. Monday after school it was right back where she came from. There wasn't any huffing & puffing, no screaming, no crying. Just reality.

She wasn’t ours to keep.

But she was ours for a little while.

And maybe that’s what made it special.

Because for a couple of days, in the middle of everything else going on in life, we had this unexpected little burst of chaos, laughter, and joy.

Thankfully, it was just a couple of days!

Sometimes being an adult sucks.

We know that all to well. It's time our little adults start to learn that lesson as well. Responsibility comes first. Chores before play. Work before party. Responsibility before fun. Man. It really does suck being an adult sometimes!

So we didn’t keep the dog.

But we kept the moment.

And honestly…

That was enough.

Sometimes the best test of the life you're building is what you're willing to say no to — even when it's got one permanently bent ear and an expression that could end wars.

Check out Travel Blogs if you want to understand how the unexpected often rules our travels!

If you're curious about the garden she helped with — we document all of it in Grow It."

Oh and for the record: they named her Lemon. No idea why? She was dark grey with a tiny white spot on her chest. A mix of Border Collie and Cane Corso.