By Jan Penton Miller
Columnist
After our little trip to Nashville and on to the mountains life is settling a little. If I said back into
the usual routine I would be telling a whopper! Instead of the pitter-patter of Old Girls’ feet
following me in my morning routine like a well-worn slipper I have a wild child zooming at 100
miles per hour until she winds down.
When my kids were little it was hard not to cave on the small stuff, and a new puppy in the
house brings back the same old difficulties of deciding when to let things go and when to put my
foot down. So far, Winnie has stolen my heart to the point that she gets her way pretty often.
At this very moment she is sleeping in my lap, which makes it a little challenging to write on my
laptop. Let’s just say my lap and life are very full at the moment, but I like it that way. My
youngest, Ryan, watched Winnie while we were away for a few days. I was hoping that the
worst of house training would be over when we returned home, but I think she regressed a bit.
After all Winnie is just a baby, and she was away from her normal routine so no biggie. I left her
a little longer than usual the other day, and I thought we were going to have to call a HAZMAT
team to clean up the bathroom! It seriously looked like a poop bomb had exploded!
We couldn’t get mad because she was obviously upset at being alone so I’m trying to start over
and leave her for more brief periods of time. In her little puppy brain she doesn’t understand that
her isolation is only temporary.
“Mike, what are we going to do about Winnie while we go to Hunter and Meghan’s wedding?”
“I don’t know. Do you think we could take her and leave her in the car in her carrier?”
“I think she might get too hot, and we would be worried about her the whole time. I guess we
need to get a sitter.”
We fortunately were able to find someone responsible to sit with Winnie. We dressed for the
evening and gave detailed instructions on when and what Winnie would eat and so forth. We left
her toys, and petted her goodbye. I almost felt like we were leaving a child.
After a drive to Hattiesburg later we arrived at the gorgeous wedding venue. The weather
cooperated while the wedding party took their places. All eyes turned to watch as the lovely
bride entered on her proud father’s arm. All weddings are beautiful, but this one seemed
especially lovely.

When we returned home Winnie was happy to see us, but she had had a good time with her
sitter. She will soon be out of the puppy stage, but for right now she is pretty much running the
show.