Family, for us, means humans and canines. The dogs are considered part of the family. So, I couldn’t possibly leave them off my Christmas list. Truly, they don’t need anything, but neither do we! When I was at Dave’s the other day stocking up on dog food, my eye caught some nice cozy-looking mats for the dogs’ crates, aka their bedrooms. All of the dogs have their own room where they sleep at night, take a rest during the day when I leave the house, and it’s where James goes during a thunderstorm. There, in his room, he feels secure. I like to line their bedrooms with comfy beds. It had been quite some time since I purchased new bedding. Frankly, their bedding is fine. But, the bedding in the display at Dave’s looked so nice, so soft. I couldn’t pass it by. James would love this plush sage green mat, and Annie and Lily would enjoy the fleecy rust-colored ones, I told myself. It would be nice for them to have something new. These would make great Christmas presents, I assured myself. They’re too nice to pass up. Great price, and I have some coupons. Done. Into my shopping cart.
For Violet, I had toys on my mind. No, not a new bed for her. At 15 months, Violet still has some puppy chewing in her. She tends to chew off the corners and sides of bedding. Toys, though, she loves to just carry around in her mouth and play with. Unlike Lily and Annie, she doesn’t rip them to shreds within minutes. James simply doesn’t bother with toys. Violet is in heaven with her toys – and her current batch of toys is ready to be pitched. I pushed the shopping cart down the toy aisle. Ah, the perfect toys. Violet loves the plush ones with squeakers inside. Done. Two new toys for Violet in the shopping cart. That’s it. Four names checked off the Christmas List. In addition, all four dogs will get a fresh, frozen marrow bone and they’ll be happy for hours. So, the dogs are all set. Now, it’s back to gifts for the human portion of the family.