Lassie’s big adventure…

When I pulled up in front of the residence building, my eldest immediately burst through the front door with a squeal of delight as she ran to the car flinging open the passenger side and embracing the wiggly waggly dog…in what I can only refer to as a “Lassie” moment. Both dog and girl proceeded to run through the muddy grass, leaping and frolicking with joy before disappearing into the building The Tall Blond had only moments before burst forth…goodness knows what kind of adventure was inside.

It was at that moment I realized that the “Mom and Dog Day” my daughter had sweetly coined was actually more like “Taxi Driver and Dog Day.” There was much more emphasis on “Dog” and little acknowledgement of “Dog Deliverer” despite the fact I sat like an idiot in the car watching the episode of “Lassie and Girl Reunite” with a huge grin spread across my face.

That Lassie always gets me. Remember when Timmy fell down the well?

The evening before, I’d received a phone call asking if I’d drive the two and a half hours there, then two and a half hours back…to take my girl to lunch.

Explaining that I was struggling with the time change and lack of sleep, had a ton of things to do and a big hockey game later that evening was fruitless. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize my girl was missing her mom and wanted a visit so I rearranged my day, asked my folks to take the two younger ones for lunch and re-booked an appointment. As the mother of three children, I know how important “the call” is. When a child, no matter how old they may be, asks for your time…even if asking for your time means that you drive five hours and rearrange an entire day…you bend over backwards to do it.

For future reference, there are a few things I’d like to clarify.

Were I to send the beloved beast on a bus or in a cab…neither bus driver or cabbie would have seen fit to take the deprived university student to the supermarket and drop a hundred bucks on groceries. Nor would they have strolled through the “mall” where a miniature version of the deprived child’s sock monkey was discovered in a toy store and “had to be purchased” as “it’s hard for the sock monkey to be living so far away from home without a little friend of its own.” Nor would they have taken the deprived girl to lunch with her roommate and roommate’s mother who oddly enough…had a muddy dog in her car as well as it seems I wasn’t the only mother thwarted into believing that “Mom and Dog Day” was more about “Mom” and less about “Dog” instead of the other way around.

All in all…it was a lovely day. The dog had a joyful time visiting “her girl” and napped the entire way home from her big adventure…her muddy footprints on every surface imaginable inside my car. I drank several coffees for the long journey home where I rushed into the house, put a quick supper on the table, then headed out to the hockey game before joining friends at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Today, I’ve yesterday’s errands and appointments to catch up on and a ridiculously muddy car to clean. I’ve also a wee smile in my heart…knowing the Tall Blond is just fine and needed an hour or two with her mom even if thinly disguised as a desire to see her beloved pup.

I’ve watched a lot of Lassie through the years and if there’s anything I’ve learned it’s this…it’s not always about the dog.