SIT!

I loathe people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves. ~Author Unknown

Once upon a time we owned a dog; a spotty dog, a dog with the sweetest temperament but absolutely no brains.

Christy was probably the wrong dog for us. I had too many small children & Christy required more exercise than my oldest boy could reasonably give her so we took the opportunities that came our way & gave thanks.

In those days I had one in school, two year old twins, a brand spanking new baby girl, & a large dog with more exuberance than sense. That being the case I occasionally took the opportunity to strap the burgeoning Houdinis into their twin stroller, strap the girl into her sling, tie the exuberant puppy to the stroller & hike the 2 miles up to the school to pick up my oldest son.

Luckily for us this was back in the days when actually seeing a car on the road was a noteworthy event & we strolled serenely down the middle of the bitumen ~ the middle of the bitumen being the only sane place to push the stroller as the edges crumbled away into rutted ditches that were completely unnavigable by anything bar a mountain goat.

The school was a one room, two teacher outfit ~ on the side of the road that didn't have a decent footpath. Naturally we waited on the other side. When the hand bell released the 30 small scholars interred inside the building I jammed on the stroller brake, tucked my daughter securely in with her brothers, told the dog to sit & crossed the road to escort my small son across the unmarked street, school dismissal time being the only time there was any traffic.

When I turned round to check on my children I was horrified to find the twin Houdinis had escaped their harness. Theo had slid down to release the brake. Dino had clambered onto the hood of the stroller & was urging the ecstatic dog into a trot. My daughter was wedged bolt upright gurgling with delight as the traffic whizzed by & the stroller began to gather speed down the hill.

Less than impressed I did the only thing possible under the circumstances. I bellowed, "SIT!" at the top of my lungs.

Three dogs, 2 adults & 4 small children, none of them mine, promptly sat. *sigh*

Yep, they were my kinesthetic learners & destined to drive every teacher forced to endure them completely round the bend because "You need to exercise your mind as well as your body" only as a wide eyed Theo once confessed to an irate teacher, "But I don't come to school to learn. I come to play sport & socialise." A simple philosophy but highly effective. They started young.