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Sparky must have been an only child. He likes Snowflake and Chumley, but in small doses. When they first got here, Sparky was so pleased that they were having fun. When Sparky has had enough, he gets a little shitty.
After the dogs had their nap, we went outside for a comfort stop, then had dinner. After that, they were ready to play. Sparky was having second thoughts about the slumber party idea.
Sparky has started calling Archie ,”Snowflake”, because he is skittish, and he calls Indy, “Chumley”. Maybe because he is bigger, easy-going and not too clever. I don’t know if it’s Chumley from the Tennessee Tuxedo cartoon or Chumlee from Pawn Stars.
Of course I wouldn’t want to confuse either dog by using their nicknames.
Before the dogs came back in the house, I opened up the kitchen. Watching me mow the lawn was so exhausting, they all took a nap after looking around the rest of the house.
Archie remains alert and watchful, but he is relaxed. Both of the guests want to stay near me, and Sparky is fine with that.
Sparky needs some help to change the mood, so I brought the dogs out to watch me mow the lawn. They were very attentive and supportive. I appreciate the encouragement.
I don’t know if it’s the lighting or the 10x zoom, but Indy looks like a blob of melting earwax. Maybe he is trying to make a goofy facial expression.
Sparky learns that dogs are ungrateful optimists.
The guys were having fun, and everyone agreed that Sparky has great toys, but Archie and Indy can’t help thinking that outside the kitchen and solarium, there are unimaginable delights. Sparky is taking it as criticism.
Sparky is having so much fun, he is smiling and drooling like a moron. Even Archie is having a good time and not freaking out. I expected there would be some cleanup after this dog party, but I didn’t expect it would be from Sparky giggling like a school girl and slobbering all over the place.
Some dogs behave better when a leash is attached, so Archie is keeping his. He gets flinchy when I reach for him, so this makes it easier to take him outside.
Sparky was a little nervous about having a slumber party. He wants the guys to think he’s cool, and they do. Indy can’t figure out how Sparky never gets tangled up in the leashes and Archie thinks Sparky isn’t afraid of anything. Sparky can’t stop smiling.
I had a good plan, but we didn’t stick to it. It might not have made much difference.
WSJ: It Now Costs $300,000 to Raise a Child
WSJ: It Now Costs $300,000 to Raise a Child
It determined that a married, middle-income couple with two children would spend $310,605—or an average of $18,271 a year—to raise their younger child born in 2015 through age 17. The calculation uses an earlier government estimate as a baseline, with adjustments for inflation trends.
Before Bill Nye the Science Guy became a garden-variety Progressive try-hard, he used to say “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.”
It isn’t plausible that it costs $18k per year to raise a child. Where is the proof?