Further to my last entry, things have moved forward on the ‘replace the children with goats’ argument which had been raging in my mind. Goats cut the grass, produce milk, and probably make less mess than the rest of the family put together. However, because there were no available agencies at which one could exchange their children for animals, we have had to think laterally. We are going to get a dog.
The dog was born in the second week of December and is still with the breeder at the moment. He is a puppy black Labrador. In fairness, I have been negotiating this with Ro for the past 18 years but it has not been until now that things have come to fruition. Whilst there have been endless conversations about who is going to walk it, groom it, clean up after it and repair whatever it chews, I still see some considerable merit in having a dog. Firstly, it will get me out to do some more exercise. Secondly, whilst there is unlikely to be a reduction in the mess left lying around the house, we won’t ever have to clean the kitchen floor again.
The dog’s name, after much (surprisingly calm) debate, will be Sherlock. This is because the BBC’s Sherlock production is one of my wife’s favourite TV programmes, and when we go and see him, he does nothing but sniff around all the time. The kids are excited about welcoming Sherlock into our home – and the preparation for his arrival has really given us an opportunity to think about how we live as a family. This includes the realisation that if you do happen to leave something out on the floor or not in its right place, the dog will most probably chew on it – and it is not their fault. Seriously, though, we have been able to talk about how a new puppy is likely to be anxious, need its own space and benefit from peace and calm, the likes of which is not always evident in the house. All of us (apart from my wonderful wife of course) contribute to raised voices, especially when Dad has lost his car keys, his dog collar, or his shoes. (By the way, you can train a dog to sniff out car keys, so this might be a plus.)
I have been amazed, whilst doing the preparatory visits to pet supermarkets, of how people treat their dogs. You can practically dress your dog as you would a human. There are a vast range of luxury goods from toys to treats, there are kennels that are luxurious and bedding which would be heaven for a homeless person. All of our children have bought some item or other that Sherlock will need – but we have not gone quite so mad. (He only has two toys). Dog charities rightly say that a dog is not for Christmas, it is for life. We are only too aware of this. Sherlock will become part of our family. We are making way for him. We are thinking about everything we can do to welcome him. We are already in love with him, even if he is not with us yet.
There is something in this whole experience that has raised questions for me about the injustice of our world – where some might have the disposable income to spend on housing their pet animals whilst others elsewhere do not have the money to spend on their children. In some ways it is difficult to change this; we are all caught up in a global economy and unless we become a commune, we cannot disengage with it. But what if we changed the subject of that charity phrase and said that Jesus is not just for Christmas – He is for life. How would that challenge us?