My Dog is a Tween
We all go through defiant phases in our lives – the terrible twos, the child/adolescent tween years, the roll-your-eyes-at-everything teen stage, and then adulthood, the stage with more categories I can name in one blog post.
This week, I’ve realized that dogs go through many of these same phases and I’ve determined that my dog is officially a tween.
I’ve spent the last few weeks reading through a few books about tweens (Talking to Tweens and The Tween Years), primarily for an article I’m writing but also because I have an 11-year old daughter. What has surprised me the most is that there are some very real behavioral similarities between my 11-year old daughter and my two-year old dog. Continue reading
My Dog is a Divine Diva
I love my dog – always have and always will, but my dog is a diva. She resembles a celebrity starlet, unwilling to settle for less, constantly testing boundaries and the patience of her posse.
I never owned a dog as a child, primarily because I have terrible allergies, but I decided two years ago to rescue this odd-looking puggle so that my kids could enjoy the benefits of man’s best friend early on. I soon learned that having a dog in the house is like having another child – only this new “baby” we inherited has grown into an expensive, attention-craving, time-consuming prima donna. Continue reading
Fighting Like Cats and Dogs
I never fully understood the phrase “they fight like cats and dogs.” As a child, we didn’t have many pets. My younger sister had a bird or two, but no cats or dogs. I couldn’t fathom why people assumed that these two types of animals would not get along. From what I knew, most cats were sassy, sly quiet pets while most dogs were all bark and no action – a sensitive, yet lazy breed. Sounds like a perfect match, right?
What I’ve realized as a parent, though, is that we all go through a “cat” and a “dog” phase. Continue reading
Fat Dog in a Little Coat
Before
As humans, our obsession with weight haunts us every minute of the day. Many of us weigh ourselves incessantly, critique every inch of our bodies and constantly evaluate how “fat” we are in the mirror.
We place pictures of skinnier versions of ourselves on the fridge, we buy fat free dressing that tastes like water and low calorie rice cakes that resemble cardboard, and we compare ourselves to other humans, wishing we could just shed 5-10 pounds.
In the meantime, dogs lounge around, lazily contemplating the next meal or planning their next nap on the forbidden couch. My dog is no exception. She snores the loudest in our house, seems put-out when I make her go outside to run and tears apart the trash searching for food just as I rearrange the pantry each night looking for a snack. Continue reading
About Me
Three words to describe me? Passionate. Motivated. Curious. These traits help me as a college media adviser and professor, freelance writer, author and mom. From student journalism and higher education to parenting and freelance writing, this site, focused on writing, reflecting and teaching, offers a mix of blogs with a hint of humor, sarcasm, and inspiration, as well as my published stories on just about every possible topic.
Feel free to browse my sample works including feature news, magazine, and web copywriting pieces from the past and present. You can also pick up my new book “Screen-Free Fun: 400 Activities for the Whole Family” now available. Check back often for daily updates, blog entries, and additional stories. Feel free to contact me directly at shphilpott@gmail.com, follow me on Twitter, or grab tips for Screen-Free Fun on our Facebook page. Comments are welcome!
Shannon Philpott-Sanders 