so i think there’s a literacy that goes along with owning a dog, and walking one, as well. i never had a dog as a kid, and wasn’t around them much. in the house that i live in now, though, we have a dog, and i was walking her today. as i have walked her a few times now, i remember to grab the plastic bag from the cabinet in the kitchen (there is also a literacy of our house, which in part involves the dog–where her food, leash, bags, medicine [is she still taking it?] is kept…) and then proceeded to call her: “Come on, dude, let’s go on a walk!”
over the course of our walks, we of course run into other dogs and their owners, to which i know to respond, before the question is even asked, “she’s friendly” and i now can take her to the doggy park, as she’s now been fixed (poor girl). though as a roommate i am becoming more literate as a pseudo part owner of our dog, penny (as auntie noelle), i still am getting the hang of how we are to act when we come up to a kid.
the first kid we encountered on our walk today, was fine with petting Penny (she actually initiated it), though i’m always afraid of what could happen, even though she is friendly and has never had any incidents of being otherwise (eek). our second interaction was with a kid who was a bit younger, and he was holding a donut outside of dunkin’ donuts on pearl street.
as an ongoing learner of not only dog literacy, but penny literacy, i know now to keep her at a distance from such scenarios, as she ended up eating the donut, snagging it right out of the kid’s hands, after only having taken a bite or two. the guy who was with the kid wasn’t mad or anything, but the little kid wasn’t happy. the guy told me, for some reason, that it wasn’t his kid, which gets us into another kind of literacy…and perhaps i’ll have more to post on that in my future walks with penny…
“‘Not my Kid’ gets us into another kind of literacy.” This is worth spinning around in my mind for a little while. If I am in a a public place or gatherin which lots of little kids are around, I alawys feel “responsible” for all of them. I do the old lifegaurding routine odf scanning back and forth (lifegaurd, cylon, whatever) for “children in need” or “children in danger.” If a takes a hard splat, I jog over to piclk him up after giving “the parent” a nanosecord to respond. However, I also swing the otherway and will let people know when a child who apears to be under my charge is “not mine.” My nest friend gave birth to a real monster. He’s gotten better, but from the age 4-7, I had no trouble looking a stranger or aquantaince in the eye and saying those words “not my kid.” It can be played off as a one-liner to lighten a situation, but in the language of parents are care takers everywhere, “not mine” says I didn’t create this, cultivate this, nor do I condone this behavior. I am not responsible for, you do not owe me explanation or excuse if, I’m not invested …
I don’t know - - - I’m just thinking outloud . . .