Playing Favorites?

Parents claim to not have favorite children, but we all know they do. In my family it is my older sister Jen, in Blaine's it is his younger sister Janey. It's okay, just admit it! It doesn't mean you love the others less. In my family Jen is the obvious choice because she is a lot like me, minus the sass. My brothers are all out of the running due to various offenses committed in their youth. Janey is the favorite in Blaine's family, well, because she's Janey. She's my favorite too. You could never meet a nicer, sweeter, kinder and lovable person. So really I think both of our parents made great choices for favorites. And now that I have ruffled their feathers a bit by this little joke, I will apologize and say--- I know, I know, you don't really have favorites.

I can tell you right now, I have a favorite dog. It's Swiper. Swiper (the black one) will wait patiently at the door until he is invited inside. Once inside he will come when I call him, not jump on my legs (if I ask him politely). Swiper is soft. Swiper gives kisses. He doesn't pee on the floor.

And then there is Boots. Boots will find a way to get in to the house no matter how careful you are when you open the door. Somehow he gets his chubby little body through a one inch opening in the door when I peek to see if they need more water. Once inside he will find something of value; Gwen's favorite toy, Blaine's shoe, etc. and run around and hide from me so I can't retrieve it until it has been torn to smithereens. Boots is all wirey and is usually covered in mud and dirt and smells gross. He constantly pees on the floor.

There is no doubt in my mind that Boots was the brains behind digging the hole under our fence (strategically in the corner, allowing access into three neighboring yards), chewing our hose in half, eating sidewalk chalk, dumping over the garbages, et cetera.

Blaine gets upset that I make it known that Swiper is my favorite. Honestly though, which would your favorite be?

Yet somehow when Boots runs up to me and jumps in my arms and I realize that he still loves me even though I spend most of the day frustrated at him I have to admit, I love him just the same as Swiper.

This whole thing with the dogs may be in preparation for the impending birth of our son. I am scared to death that our son will follow more of the Boots mindset as opposed to that of Swiper. After all; Gwen was a great sleeper, great eater, fast learner, cute as a button, agreeable child. What are the odds that two in a row will come out like that? I have a feeling this kid is going to give me a run for my money. Gwen came to Earth looking and acting like Blaine, so I figure that our boys will look and act like me. Which, looks wise I have to admit the Genessy genes make for a cute little boy (scrawny, but cute), but I don't know if I can handle the Genessy boy genes as far as behavior is concerned. James traced all the bricks on my parents home with black magic marker; Todd was so bad at scout camp that he had to be hung upside down from a tree; and Shawn well-- don't get me started-- throwing horse chestnuts, throwing hammers, he was crazy. ALL three of them went on rampages knocking holes in our walls whenever a girl would break their heart. (Note: all of my brothers have recovered, at least mostly, from their crazy childhood/teenage/early adulthood antics and I love them all a ton!). I just don't know if I am ready to deal with this kind of chaos, especially after nearly three years of Janey-like sweetness. Now if somehow our boys come out like Blaine too, then we will be set for life and our parents can count on having at least a couple more grandchildren!

Scared as I may be to have a baby boy I feel like it is safe to say that I will love him just as much as I love Gwen. I just may have to invest in a punching bag just in case someone ever breaks his heart.