Last week Dad was away for his annual vacation with Pepere, thus leaving us home alone with Mom.  Although Mom tries to have a tough exterior, we both know she’s a pushover.  So it didn’t take long for Asa and I to convince her to let us break all the rules!  Sadly though, we overstepped our boundaries and it didn’t take long for our plan to unravel.  But boy was it fun in the meantime!

The pampering began shortly after Dad left.  Mom is a creature of habit, and without thinking cooked two hamburgers for dinner.  Well since Dad wasn’t here to eat it, it would be a shame to let the food go to waste.  Therefore, Mom had no choice but to break the rule of “no table food” for us.  Asa and I each happily dined on half a burger with her.  It’s ok Mom, Dad wouldn’t want you to eat alone.

Feeling embolden by the beef, I decided to see what other rules I could break this week.  I began by reminding Mom that I’m a good guard dog.  Surely that would earn me some sort of reward.  So while Mom watched a scary movie with Asa, I barked at every little noise.  Ok, I admit even I annoyed myself with all that barking.  However, my plan worked!  Mom started to get jumpy by the slightest sound.  My performance culminated when on our final trip outside I barked at unseen foes hiding in the darkness.  Next thing I knew, Mom was inviting her fearless protector and his goofy sidekick upstairs to sleep!  This time we broke the “dogs must sleep downstairs” rule.

I bet you can guess the next rule that was broken?  Yep, we totally ignored the “no dogs on the bed” rule!  Asa and I cuddled up with Mom and enjoyed what she called the best night’s sleep she had in a long time!  I really don’t understand why she lets Dad sleep in the bed and not us.  He’s the one who snores and keeps her awake.  We just pass out and go to sleep.

The next morning I awoke refreshed and ready to see what else I could get away with in Dad’s absence.  It didn’t take long for us to get Mom to ignore that silly time change, and be back to feeding us breakfast on Golden Standard Time.  We also convinced her to ignore her work and instead play extra rounds of fetch with us.  By that second night, Asa was breaking the “no dogs on the furniture” rule, and cuddled on the couch with Mom as they watched tv together.

I have to admit, I was starting to feel guilty taking advantage of Mom’s good nature.  I wish I went with that gut instinct, because as the week wore on we pressed our luck and our whole plan slowly unraveled.  The end of our rule breaking days first came when Asa tried his luck at convincing Mom to share another meal with him.  Mom did not appreciate him almost knocking her dinner on the floor, and soon we found ourselves relegated to the living room, watching Mom eat all alone in the kitchen.  Then the next evening, the couch became off-limits again when Asa and I got into a disagreement over who should sit next to Mom.  It’s not our fault the couch is small and doesn’t comfortably fit all three of us.

The final straw for Mom came the last night Dad was away.  The bedroom became off limits again when Asa had a dream and accidentally kicked Mom in the face, followed by him reorganizing her shoe collection at 2:00 in the morning.  I totally blame Mom for his actions.  The movie she watched gave him nightmares, and just like Mom when Asa gets upset he cleans.  Her pile of shoes was too tempting for his nervous energy to resist.  Then when Mom got up to use the bathroom, I may have stretched out on the bed leaving just a little corner for her to curl up and sleep.  You can’t blame me though.  The bed was so warm and inviting compared to my dog bed.  Besides, how was I suppose to know that spot at the foot of the bed between myself and Asa’s pile of shoes wasn’t enough room for Mom?  Dogs aren’t known for their spatial reasoning skills.

So here we are at the start of a new week.  Dad is home from visiting with Pepere, and Mom is back to enforcing the rules.  However, hope springs eternal!  Therefore, Asa and I will learn from our mistakes and will plot to see how we can do it all again even bigger and better next year!