Puppies and babies are adorable, to most people. They do some super cute, super funny things. But some of those things won’t be so cute, and definitely not funny, when that tiny Collie puppy is now an 80-pound adult, or that silly two-year-old is now twelve years old.
Take the Collie puppy, for example. It is fuzzy, soft, and super cuddly right now, and you want to snuggle with it as much as you can. So you pick it up and put it in your recliner next to you while you watch TV. Sounds fantastic, right? I would certainly enjoy it. Fast forward a year. That Collie puppy is now 70-90 pounds, and she thinks she should still be allowed to snuggle with you in your recliner. However, given her size and weight now, you disagree. It is a battle every time you sit down, because she runs over and tries to climb into your lap.
Now think about that two-year-old. You’re watching a video on your phone that your friend sent of her son, and he takes the phone from your hand. “I see, I see!” he says. It’s cute that he wants to watch his buddy running around in his Superman cape pretending to thwart some imaginary villain. Fast forward ten years. You’re watching a funny video on Facebook of someone in a Pokemon costume running away from a guy in an Ash Ketchum getup. Your twelve year old son grabs your phone away, saying “Oh, let me see that!” Not so cute anymore, right?
I have found that the best way to keep situations like this from happening is to remember this phrase: If you don’t want them to do it at ten, don’t let them do it at two. While it may be cute now, it won’t be cute later. Here are some other situations that might be cute when the kid is a toddler, or the dog is a puppy:
The two year old girl who says, “Here, puppy!” and feeds half her dinner to the dog.
The ten week old German Shepherd that sits at your feet at the table, staring up at you while you eat lunch.
The toddler who runs away from you in the store, and makes silly faces at you when you tell him to come back to your side.
The puppy that takes your shoe and runs away with it just before you reach to put it on.
While you won’t be able to keep that in mind for every little thing your child or puppy does, it’s definitely a good thing to try to think about before you let them do certain things. If you have a larger breed puppy, such as a Labrador, German Shepherd, English Mastiff, or maybe even Irish Wolfhound, this rule definitely needs to be followed as much as possible.
The hardest part about remembering this rule when it comes to puppies is looking in that sweet face and having to tell the little love that he can’t jump on the couch and snuggle with you. But, you will be happy you did when that fluffy puppy is full grown and not draped across your chest, blocking your view of Family Feud!
If you don’t want them to do it at ten, don’t let them do it at two.