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All Eyes (and Ears)
drop-in centre canada
(Jul.28.10)
On a Sunday afternoon my toddler Jack was seated on the kitchen floor, a bowl of Cheerios in front of him and a bright orange dollar-store special juice jug at his hands. The Cheerios were randomly consumed, while primarily serving as apt treasures to collect in the bottom of the juice jug and as a tan-coloured stream to pass from jug to bowl. Our dog Shamus sat close by watching this blatant misuse of food and hoping that one of the morsels would hit the floor, the “fair game” of his world.
I suppose the wait became all too unbearable and that he gave up discipline because in a carefully timed bound – just as the Cheerios passed from bowl to jug for the third time – Shamus bound into action eating each crumb from the bowl in one swift slurp. Before I could respond in my characteristic wild woman action – arms waving, voice a growl, pointing with one sharp finger to the hallway – my son sprang to his feet.
From deep within his chest, he growled and spat over half-words and strung together syllables, lunging at the dog with passion. He pointed to the hallway and when Shamus responded with a turn of the head and a jaunt away, Jack growled along after him tugging at his fur for attention while spewing his angry words.
My husband told me later he wanted to laugh. It was funny, until I really thought about what my son was doing – arms waving, low growl, pointing with one sharp finger to the hallway... “Bad dog!” Bad mother! I turned to my husband and said “We really need to watch how we interact with Shamus.” And slowly I rephrased that, “Okay, I really need to watch how I interact with Shamus.” Apparently someone is watching.
Karen Bannister is a working mother, living with her husband and son in Niagara Falls. She is the author of two books on disability and a student of The Momoir Project.