Ah, the joys of summer. Sleeping late. Drinking lemonade. Long, lazy days in the sun.
Ha–not in my house. In my house, there is no sleeping late, no lazy days. My kids are home from school, which means they want to be entertained–once they wake up, which can be anytime after nine, or ten in the morning. That would be perfect–except I also have two dogs.
And they apparently don’t know it’s summer. In fact, with the sun rising a bit earlier than normal, they are, too. Vacation? My dogs laugh at the word. And I can only dream of the thought.
The dogs do have a bit of a snooze alarm. When one starts barking or the other starts panting (the Golden’s method of trying to wake me is to stand beside the bed and pant in my face), I can mumble a “quit it” and they’ll lie down for a few minutes. Unlike an alarm clock, however, they won’t shut off. Eventually, the snooze factor wears off, and I have to get up, let them out and start the day.
The dogs follow me up to my office–there will be no shutting of the door because then they feel left out–and stay with me while I work. They stay under my feet all day, keeping me company, though some days it feels more like they’re the boss, making sure I’m getting my work done.
They keep me company, alert me to the arrival of the UPS guy, but also tend to bark like maniacs when I’m deep in writing mode, which drives me crazy. They’re kind of like office mates that you wish would move to another cubicle–in the next building.
But still, I wouldn’t trade Max and Heidi. When the kids go back to school, the dogs keep me company. They’re furry sounding boards for plot points and character discussions. They help me not feel like a total hermit while I’m here in the Writer Cave, pounding out one more book.
But I do wish someone would tell them that the dog days of summer means sleeping late–for them as well as me!
Shirley
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Talking to your dogs about your story sounds like a perfectly respectable alternative to talking to yourself. People tend to worry when you get to that point:cool:…LOL Ray-Anne
LOL Shirley. For my KIDS sleeping late means 7 or 7:30. When the dh is working, I’m still up at 6. And when he’s not, that means he AND the kids are underfoot.
Good thing I didn’t have a hot and heavy deadline this summer, lol.
Ray-Anne,
LOL. My husband has woken up many a time to hear me talking my dialogue out loud, just to make sure it all “sounds” right — because he wants to know who I’m talking to. Maybe I should just say I’m talking to the dogs
Shirley
Donna,
Sadly, I DO have a book due this summer — August 1. Maybe the dogs realize that and that’s why they’re getting me up early, LOL.
Shirley
I’m still stuck on the part where your kids sleep until nine or ten. Mine wake up with the light, which means 6:00-ish this time of year. Of course, I also own an inn, and those guests want their breakfasts, so sleeping in a distant dream for me.
As for the dog, well, he’s sleeping again at the moment. No problems with that lazy guy.
My dog sleeps under my chair while I work. If I turn off my computerer or move it just a bit, she’s ready to jump into my chair to keep it warm. I wake up early to write so I don’t mind the dog being up early with me, it’s the kids I want to sleep late and them staying in bed until 9:00 in the morning would be heaven.
I have two preschoolers and a teenager….the teenager wouldn’t get up before noon if I didn’t hound her. But the little ones are up with the sun.
I’ve tried getting up earlier than them just to write…but then, they just get up earlier. ARe they psychically connected? Grrrr…..