Pet Please

My daughter wants a dog. In my heart, I want a dog too. Throughout my childhood there were dogs; there were old dogs, new dogs, borrowed dogs and blue dogs. My dad brought home strays, not all of them dogs, but that's another story. After he and my mom split, my younger brother was usually able to convince my mom that we should take in his newest rescue.

For one reason or another there hasn't been a dog in my life since I left home at seven-teen. Consequently, YM and YL have never had a dog growing up YM never broached the subject; rumor has it he's a cat person. YL asked, from time to time about getting a dog. Initially, only dad vetoed. As I began to realize that the home ownership dream that I thought WE hatched, wasn't going to come to fruition and then we split; I had to help her face the fact that she would grow up without a dog. She took this hard as we lived in a community full of single family homes and happy families who housed up to three dogs, cats and various other creature pets.

YL is now grown up and she wants a dog. In my heart, I want a dog too. In my head, however, I'm thinking she must be nuts. The three of us live in a two bedroom, single bath condo with no back yard to speak of. She works in a day care 6 hours a day 5 days a week. She cares for several children between the ages of 2 and 4. She works with women, most of them older than me (which I take to mean they are 'difficult') and she whines, ahem, I mean reports to me daily about her travails. So, this young lady, who crowned herself Princess years ago, the reigning, uncontested diva of our world, is going to come home and care for a puppy / dog whose been cooped up in the condo all morning when she won't even do her laundry until every scrap of fabric she owns (which is legion) is dirty? Um, no I don't think so, at least, not yet.