“Mommy, what is Molly saying?”
“Hmmm? What?” I ask and lean over the table. I see our black lab, Molly lying on the ground. Declan is laying next to her, hovering over her.
“Oh!” I say when I realize a dog conversation is about to start.
And in my best Scooby Doo like impersonation I begin.
“I love you, Declan!”
“I love you too, Molly! Oh Molly – did you just give me kisses?”
“I sure did, Declan! Because you are the best!”
“Thank you, Molly! I think you are the best too!”
“Thank you, Declan!”
“Did you have a good day today, Molly?”
“I sure did, Declan!”
“What did you do?”
“I took a nice nap, went for a walk with Mommy, played with toys and snuck a piece of toast off the counter.”
“WHAT?!?! Molly, you aren’t supposed to eat off the counter!” Declan exasperates with a laugh.
“I know…it just looked and smelled so good – I couldn’t help myself.”
“Hahaha…Molly!”
“How was your day, Declan?”
“It was good.” Declan leans in to give Molly a great big hug. Molly rolls over on her side and puts her paw in the air.
“Ow, Molly! You scratched me!”
Declan leans back and puts his hand on his cheek. Molly sits up and licks Declan. Then she looks at me, her voice.
“I’m sorry, Declan! My paws just do their own thing sometimes.”
“It’s okay, Molly. I love you!”
“I love you too, Declan!”
Declan gets up and bounces away, off to get his device and listen to his favorite You Tubers.
And I get back to what I was doing.
I must have AT LEAST 3 conversations with Declan a day as Molly. So many, in fact, I tend to repeat myself. Which usually leads to:
“Mom, why does she say “I love you” so much? I wish she would say something else.”
Which means it is time to kick up my imagination!
Why do I do it?
Well, I guess as a parent we all indulge our children in some way that pleases them, no matter how silly it makes us look or feel.
But more because I love the friendship he is building with her.
It is not the same as a friendship he would have with another child – but he doesn’t have any of those. Not the same as the friendship he has with one of his siblings – they aren’t always around (or in the mood to talk).
With Molly he talks back and forth. He is not afraid. He is uninhibited. He cares about her. As soon as he wakes up in the morning, he gets Molly out of her cage and brings her to me to have a “conversation” (Which I must say, even in the early hours, I have surprised myself at how good I am at them then).
And if I am not available to have a Molly conversation with him, I will see him get down while she lays to “have a talk.”
Bobby and Catelyn play with Molly more, but Declan talks with her. A LOT. And she notices.
When the buses start coming home, she gets on her perch and begins to wait for Declan’s to pull up in front of our house. Declan always talks to me first about his day, but soon enough, I am in my Scooby Doo voice and talking about Molly’s day.
Molly isn’t a pure therapy dog, per se. But she provides Declan with a lot of therapy in friendship. A very special friendship.
You really rock as a parent. Dogs are therapy, some are trained for the job. Such a lovely post!
Thank you so much!
We’ve had our 80lb Shepherd mix shelter rescue for a little over a year. Ben is mostly non-verbal so there’s no conversations but they are well matched on energy, rambunctiousness and even size. We’re still working on teaching them both to play nice😕
Declan gets mad at Molly when they play – because she mostly wants to play tug at some toy of his. So the talks are better for him. Hope your two find a happy, play nice groove 🙂
Zeus is great at chasing a ball. Dropping it, not so much.
Zeus is only about 3yrs old so they have time to mellow together 🙏💌
Your narration of friendship between Declan and Molly comes out so heartwarming… It’s amazing how a child connects with an animal of supposedly limited cognition while we humans are unable to do that mostly.
Thank you! I agree 🙂
Loving Molly and Declan’s relationship, I think children benefit so much having a dog and especially one that talks!
Haha! Yes, I think all the kids are benefiting from having a dog around – especially a talking one 🙂
Labradors are the best. Molly will always be Declan’s best friend.
She is so smart, kind and forgiving – truly the best! Especially for Declan 🙂
Pets are great therapy, without their even trying.
Your story though brought an old memory to the foreground. For the longest time, I used to think my pigeon spoke to me. I eventually grew out of it, of course, but once upon a time, I was very insistent that they did. Just asked my mom if she was the culprit and she confirmed it 😂
Oh, that’s great! See? Parents indulge our children’s fantasies – especially when those fantasies bring them such joy 🙂
❤
My first pet came into the family before I was born. Pure-bred German Shepard mother mated with a Black lab. He was our guard dog. Literally sat by my play-pen when mom was out side working in our garden. Her name was Cindy.
Cindy would walk down to meet the bus with me once I was old enough to go to school. She met me back at the end of the lane when the bus dropped me back home hours later. As I got older and started having other people pick me up at my house, she would not let their vehicle leave the yard unless mom came out and told her it was fine for me to leave!
That’s awesome – Cindy sounds like a really awesome dog!
That’s an awesome story. My kids didn’t start getting interested in our cats until a much older age, but then cats are standoffish and don’t like hugs. I’ve deflected the “can we get a dog” conversation a hundred times. I like standoffish.
I’ve never had a cat. Growing up and now, we have always had a dog. I’ve heard that about cats – I like that they are more self sufficient but was always afraid I would get the one that didn’t like 1. people or 2. me
That’s soooo cute! ❤️