Thanks!!! The pics of the puppies on the beach just made my day- after a morning full of bruising academic politics, it's nice to see puppies( and humans) having a great time playing! Ally will be so happy to see this.
Great news that Ellie won't have to stay at the vets
Speaking of my nine year old, Ally, she made me so proud the other day.
We've been getting some negative reactions when she tells people we are adopting Tommy in Playa (from the same type of people who say things like "How can you take your daughter to Mexico, aren't you afraid she'll get sick from the water? And what would happen if you needed medical help there???)
It wouldn't bother me, except that I don't want anything to make Ally feel less positive and excited -not only about Tommy, but about the fact that she really feels like she is contributing to something that is important to her when we send a donation to the shelter.
But I didn't need to worry...when all my in-laws ganged up on me and asked why we need to go to Mexico to adopt when there are dogs here...
Ally answered them, I think sensing some spite in the questioning. She said :
Not only have we already rescued two pets in the US, but that she has been having a great time in Playa since she was born-it feels like a 2nd home to her- and Tommy will remind her of those happy times...
She then said that it gives her a chance to do something good for Playa., explaining that if "the people from playa.info" didn't rescue Tommy's litter, he would be on the street too... and it always makes her so sad to see hungry dogs and cats when we are eating at nice places on La Quinta (I don't think she EVER ate an entire meal, come to think of it, she was always saving some to share with a 4 legged friend)-
that's why she's so happy about Andy and Jen's shelter. (At which point her Grandpa coughed up another $10 which we'll be sending
)
She then ended this little speech by saying that
you can't think about just helping the people or animals in your town or your country, that we have to remember that we all live together on the same planet!- and anyway, Tommy doesn't even know that he's from Mexico, he's just a dog that needs a home!
When she finished, I felt like getting up and singing "We are the world" ( but not even my in-laws deserve me singing off-key
)
One of the best parts of this was the look on my evil mother-in-law's face- her jaw literally dropped: here she was just hoping for an opportunity make me look bad and instead her granddaughter-politely- exposed her small-minded, narrow world view. (And thank you, playa.info, for giving me a forum to share this- I'm sure it is saving me on therapy bills
)