When my kids were little, we spent much of our time at the neighborhood playground. It was a strong dose of sanity for me as a new stay at home mom to allow me to have other new stay at home moms to connect with. It also allowed me to recognize my mommy shortcomings. It never crossed my mind to bring snacks, for instance, and when my son would get cranky, we'd pack it in and go home. Or, the good moms would have bags full of Cheerios, Goldfish or pretzels that they would whip out of their diaper bags to share with all. Eventually, of course, I caught on.
Conversation at the playground centered primarily on our kids: What their latest accomplishments were, how many words they had, how close they were to being potty trained, etc.
I truly loved the playground and the park and the time we spent there, particularly when my boys were younger and even into elementary school, when a large group of us would meet at the nearby park after school for the kids to play and us to chat.
Then, the kids got older and time at the park became more scarce. It was less of an event and generally, one kid played at the playground while the other one had a ballgame on a field within shouting and eye distance of the game.
I admit I've kind of missed those times. That is, until this summer, when we discovered a new park. The dog park! That's right. A playground just for Elvis! It's a few miles away and the first time we went, no one else was there and he had no idea what to do. My son tried to get him to run by running back and forth a few times (in the 95 degree mid afternoon heat of an NC summer) and Elvis just looked at him as if to say, "Are you kidding me? It's really hot out here!" So after a few minutes, we got back into our air conditioned car and went back home.
That night, my husband and I tried again after dinner and there were more people and dogs there. He still really didn't quite know what to do, but it was fun watching the other dogs play. One time, one of the other guys ran and Elvis must have thought that was cool because he did it, too.
So we have made "going to the park" a new part of our weekend routine. There are two sides to the dog park, the over 20 pound side and the under 20 pound side. We usually stay on the under 20 pound side, but sometimes looks longingly at the over 20 pound side, certain I'm sure, that the dogs on that side have way more fun that the ones on his side. But I an happy to say that Elvis has made many new friends: Jetson, Dublin, Pumpkin (there are actually two Pumpkins that go regularly), Tiki and Teddy and others.
When we get to the park, all the dogs come running to greet us, as if Elvis was Norm from "Cheers." "ELVIS!" they all wag their tails in excitement. Then they smell each others' butts for a few minutes, Pumpkin and one of the other dogs bite on each others' necks, someone humps someone else and occasionally one of them gets the idea to run furiously across the length of the fence and the others think, "Ooh! I must follow!" and all run in a line behind the first one.
The dog park moms and dads are really not unlike the playground moms and dads from when my kids were little, either. The conversation is pretty much centered on the dogs. What they like to eat at home, what they play with, how much they sleep, how well they are doing on the potty training. And when the bad dog mom (me) doesn't think to bring any snacks for her dog? That's okay. Because the good dog mom (not me) not only has a bag with treats for her pooch, she has enough to share with all that are there and they gather around her, showing her how well they can sit and look pitiful until she finally relents and puts the treasured piece of liver snap (or whatever it is) into their mouths.
It's the weekend again. Elvis spent the day at the doggie day spa today and I'm sure he's dreaming right now of Sunday morning when we get in the car for a ride and he can show his buddies his fancy new 'doo!
