Improper pooping

What seems to be on the hearts and minds of those who surround me today? Improper pooping. I kid you not. I can hardly contain myself today listening to their stories.

It all started this morning, when radio host Fr. Peter spent a considerable length of time talking about Westville and the plastic bags that are provided for the unpleasant task of picking up after your dog's droppings. Suggesting that is part of dog ownership responsibility. What I didn't know is that dogs and cats regularly frequent the same spot, after scoping out for themselves a territory.

We used to have that problem on our front lawn, as our neighbors have at least four dogs who never used their own property but had a preference for ours. Several times I stepped in the dog dodo in my Sunday shoes. Then, I sent my husband out with a plastic bag and shovel for a short time. When we both had enough, we called the neighbor to have them come over and pick-up the present that their dog left on our lawn. Now, because the wife got tired of having to do this chore, they got collars which keep them confined on their property. Problem resolved.

Fr. Peter has announced over the radio station that people will walk their dogs on church property without any concern for the droppings or the sanctity of the area in which it occurs. That is a delicate situation. You would think that people would know better. Maybe they should make diapers for dogs.

Today Nathan came over and he called me his "little grandma." It was very humid and we decided to bring out the portable air conditioner and set it up in the living room. While putting the plastic insert in the window, which allows ventilation from the hose, Nathan was in the kitchen placing the hose in the air conditioning unit. I was so surprised to see that he had accomplished this at three and a half years old. He said "grandma I fixed it" He continues to amaze me by his ability far beyond his years. Nothing goes by him. We played dominoes. That is we count how many on each one and we create buildings with it. Once we have towers established, the fun part is knocking them down. Puzzles are among his favorite activity. Over and over again. We colored in a dog coloring book. He colored the dog black, and I thought that was a sign of being angry, when he reminded me that it was just like Onshu. I read books and we watched DVDs played the organ and he sang. He carries a tune well. Makes up his own words about things he sees. We talked about his trip to see the monster trucks, describing the noise perfectly. He told me he was hungry so we sat down to lunch.

Although we snack all day on his "favorites" we had cottage cheese, tomatoes, slices of lamb, some greens and red grapes for dessert. While he was drinking his milk and we were relaxing, it was time for one of our famous conversations.

He told me he was enjoying his new swing set but the birds were pooping on it. It was concerning to him and he continued to tell me that the poop was not like his, dark, it was white poop. Daddy had to clean it up and he was mad.

Later that evening, his dad came to pick him up and I told him how Nathan had related that story to me. Bill started to laugh. He said he over heard Nathan giving the birds a few of his own words when he was about to go down the slide and discovered the poop droppings in his way. He told the birds that if they didn't knock it off they would get a time out!

Can't do much about the birds pooping on his new swing set, but we sure had a good laugh about daddy having to clean it up. I'll bet no one talked about that when selling the swing set to them nor did they mention the B52 mosquitoes that would eat them alive in their back yard.

The are lots of little disappointments and frustrations we learn to accept because there is little we can do about it. Improper pooping is just one of life's little problems for which there is no real solution.