Our First Baby: Chumlee

Before Andrew and I had a dog, we didn't understand the kind of love that Chumlee would bring into our home. When we first got her, we talked about how we were never going to be those "crazy dog people" who treat their dog like a person. Now I would categorize us in the top 10% of annoying dog people. The thing is: We don't care what other people think about how we feel about Chumlee.

We know how it feels to come home after a long day at work (or a short walk to the mailbox)and be greeted by Chumlee like it is the best part of her day. She wiggles her lil' tail and without being asked, goes through all of the commands she knows just to impress us (sit, give me your paw, lay down, roll over). We know how awesome it is when she keeps our feet warm at night, or cuddles as close as possible to us on the couch. We love to buy her new toys and see her play with them. Taking her for a walk is so much fun, because she loves to be out-and-about and as a bonus, we get more exercise. Chumlee's fur is so soft and shiny after a bath that it is worth the hard work to get her in the tub. For these reasons (and so many more) we don't mind if people think of us as the crazy dog people.

I think that having a child has a lot of similarities to having a dog. Andrew and I had to agree on how to train and discipline Chumlee, what her diet would be, which behaviors might be beyond our control, who picks up the poop (we have had a lot of talks about poop in general... from what I hear that won't change), and we have tons of silly nicknames for her. Of course I realize that there will be major differences. For example, we can't just leave the kid at home when we want to go out to dinner (right?) and of course the kid won’t sleep 75% of the time like Chumlee does. Our child will speak English eventually and we are hoping he/she will be better at sharing with other kids than Chumlee is at sharing with other dogs.


I have sworn that having a kid will not change the non-mom parts of me. I want to maintain who I am as Chrissy, Mrs. S., or Cee-cee. I also realize that like when we got Chumlee, having a baby will change me. I also know that the feelings that I have for Chum will be much more intense and meaningful with a human baby, although that is hard to imagine. I believe that Andrew and I will work hard to keep our other identities beyond being Mommy and Daddy, but I also hope that the love that this baby brings into our home will make me care about that a little less.


Chumlee gets along well with kids, so I can’t wait to see her with our little one. Here is a super-cute video that shows a dog that is the same breed as Chumlee with a little baby:




4th grader parenting tip of the day: “You will have to put up with tantrums, fussing, and diapers, but so what? Kids are great and you’ll be glad you had them.”