Puppy Love

What do you get when you mix an imaginative 3-year-old with dog-owning family member? The sweetest story I’ve shared in a long time.

Life with Brayden is never boring (and often cute), but sometimes things happen that are so sweet you know this story will live on in the family for a long time. This is one of those stories.

While visiting family in Connecticut, Brayden and I stayed at my cousin Eileen’s house. To say she was a gracious hostess would be an understatement. She went grocery shopping beforehand to stock up on little b’s food favorites, arranged for a car seat so we didn’t have to bring one, took a week off work to be with us and, germane to this story, opened up a new phase of Brayden’s imaginative play.

Here’s how it went down…

One afternoon I was beat. Between the time change and our aggressive activity schedule, I had nothing left. Except there was one problem. My toddler was ready to party thanks to his never-ending supply of energy.

Cue Cousin Eileen.

In words soon to immortalized in our family, she said, “Well, I don’t know kids but I do know dogs.” And Eileen proceeded to engage Brayden in some puppy play.

Brayden absolutely loved it. I had never seem him take on an imaginary role before so this was new to me too.

He behaved well to receive “puppy treats”…

laid in his “puppy bed”…

and played fetch.

He even had a “kennel” (hanging out on the stairs while looking out the staircase rails).

So if you’re wondering if there’s a real dog in this story somewhere, then you’re right.

Eileen has a wonderful bulldog named Caesar who watched over the proceedings with a bit of confusion and amusement.

Brayden and Caesar became fast friends as brothers in their doggy bond. This kiss shot says it all.

Time with family is always filled with memorable moments but this one is sure to go down in the Hall of Fame with ours.