Ahhh, so the reality is that I have two kids. One kid has two legs, is taller than me, speaks English and is sliding deep into the drama that is teen years. The other kid has four legs, weighs about 7lbs, is just under 6 months old and is deep into the throws of puppydom.
And these two…oh these two!
Yappy is a puppy; he does puppy stuff. In the last week he has chewed through 3 cords (electrical tape is sooooo important in Casa d’ABM), shredded a new roll of toilet paper and created a full on lair under my bed. He is maniacal in his endless puppy enthusiasm. I relish in coming home to Yappy because when I walk through the door, he acts like I hung the sun and the moon, and I am the best thing that has happened to him…ever! And his cuddles. Sigh! I loves me some Yappy.
I loves me some Hope too, of course. Hope has recently decided that she is not checking for Yappy though. He’s cute (adorbs!) when he wants to play, but when he chews on things she has left out…well, he is enemy number one.
Today she managed to spill a bunch of Mike and Ikes on the floor. Yappy thought God sent manna from doggy-heaven and ran to gobble what he could before being scolded.
I found some…um…some of Hope’s unmentionables in Yappy’s lair recently, a reminder that Hope needs to deep clean and scrub tidy her room.
Yappy destroyed all the aces in Hope’s new deck of cards that she left on the living room floor. Not sure how he did that but he was proud of himself (frankly so was I); Hope was furious!
And to top it off, he loves me more. Heck I feed him, train him, snuggle with him and take him for long walks. Yappy runs to me for EVERYTHING. And I love it. It’s unfortunate that Hope’s impatience means that Yappy’s attachment to me exclusively will only grow over time, but selfishly, I’m about that puppy adoration life. Hope and I can get rather frosty sometimes. Yappy never gives me the cold shoulder.
Elihu says I’m more patient with Yappy than I am with Hope. Honestly, he’s probably right. I totally understand what puppies do and why they do it. I don’t understand this teen thing at all. Not one bit. Totally foreign and infuriating sometimes.
I’m hoping that in time Hope will come around to understanding that this is life with a puppy. Puppy proofing is necessary, as is good consistent correction. That good, consistent love and correction is good for both my fur baby and my teen, equally.
But for now, the daily sibling squabbles continue–only Yappy doesn’t realize that he and Hope are squabbling.
AdoptiveBlackMom 
March 25th, 2015 at 12:37 pm
I’m quite impressed he managed to chew the aces only. I think you have a prodigy on your hands.
Have you ever read an article about how teens brains work different than ours due to what is and isn’t developed? It’s pretty interesting stuff and explains so much. Unfortunately it doesn’t make their behavior any less frustrating.
I’m about to nerd out on you and share some links and excerpts because I love this topic and am not ready to roll out of bed yet. (Explains why I chose psychology, eh?) Please feel free to ignore them all. š
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/28/381622350/why-teens-are-impulsive-addiction-prone-and-should-protect-their-brains
“”The last place to be connected ā to be fully myelinated ā is the front of your brain,” Jensen says. “And what’s in the front? Your prefrontal cortex and your frontal cortex. These are areas where we have insight, empathy, these executive functions such as impulse control, risk-taking behavior.”
http://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2013/03/20/decision-making-is-still-a-work-in-progress-for-teenagers/
“Lower activity in the frontal lobe could lead to poor control over behavior and emotions, while an overactive amygdala may be associated with high levels of emotional arousal and reactionary decision-making.”
http://m.livescience.com/21461-teen-brain-adolescence-facts.html
“While oxytocin is often described as the “bonding hormone,” increased sensitivity to its effects in the limbic system has also been linked to feeling self-consciousness, making an adolescent truly feel like everyone is watching him or her.”
This one isn’t as smooth of a read…
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-still-under-construction/index.shtml
“Several lines of evidence suggest that the brain circuitry involved in emotional responses is changing during the teen years. Functional brain imaging studies, for example, suggest that the responses of teens to emotionally loaded images and situations are heightened relative to younger children and adults. The brain changes underlying these patterns involve brain centers and signaling molecules that are part of the reward system with which the brain motivates behavior. These age-related changes shape how much different parts of the brain are activated in response to experience, and in terms of behavior, the urgency and intensity of emotional reactions.”
March 25th, 2015 at 2:06 pm
Thanks for these. I hate the parenting books! I read so much scholarly lit for work, but I hand’t thought to read scholarly lit on adolescent development and brain chemistry. Power to the nerds! Thanks for this. I will hit google scholar later this week for more skimming and reading. š
March 25th, 2015 at 8:49 pm
Yes! I love Google scholar too! I didn’t wanna dump something as heavy as peer reviewed journal articles on an unsuspecting victim.
March 25th, 2015 at 9:46 pm
J- peer reviewed lit is right in my wheelhouse! Got a few of my own citations out there! š
March 27th, 2015 at 4:19 pm
Oooo!!
March 25th, 2015 at 1:58 pm
Hahaha, we are in the throes of puppydom as well. Sometimes, I can’t figure out where all of her ridiculous terrorizing energy comes from. The rest of the time, she is so cute and snuggly. Good luck with both your babies!
March 25th, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Yes! I don’t know where all the energy comes from, but it’s awfully draining and adorable. š
July 6th, 2015 at 5:06 pm
[…] I wrote a couple of months ago that I seemingly had more patience with Yappy than with Hope, which is the source of much rivalry between the two. My patience is running out with both of these characters!Ā Itās one thing to have a surly teenager who has some post-trauma, psycho-social issues. Itās another thing to have that and a cute but unwieldly puppy running wild. […]