He wants a dog

Ever since my son watched the movie Bolt a couple months back he has been asking us to get him a dog. Every now and then he will still bring up about how much he would really like to have a dog. My husband comes from a family of dog lovers so I think eventually we will probably end up getting one but I’m really not that keen on it. No matter how old the kids get I have a feeling at the end of the day it will be me taking the dog out to pee, picking up after he’s pooped, giving him a bath, etc.
The other day we were at the mall trying to kill some time, blow off some steam and just shake off this general feeling of restlessness and unhappiness that was following us around. There is a pet store at the mall and after lunch the kids wanted to go check out the dogs there. So we headed over there and to our luck they let out a couple puppies to run around the floor of the store and play with the customers. I saw the kids smiles brighten and faces light up as they chased the puppies around the store, petted them, and threw some doggie treats at them. It was then that I could really see just how much having a dog can help brighten a kid’s mood and be their best friend and be a source of comfort. It was one of those ‘this is what being a kid is all about’ moments and I was almost in tears watching them (yes, a bit emotional that day). The look on the kids faces was pure joy as they played around with the puppies.
It almost made me want to get a dog… until I thought about it scratching the furniture, chewing up our house, and barking at all hours of the night. Yeah, getting a dog can wait… for now we will just visit the pet store.