Generous Grandma
Cricket sits on Grandma’s lap to share potato chips. For breakfast, she gets the leftover pancakes, or English muffins, on a plate. During dinner, she will stuff her self onto the chair with Grandma and watch her eat, coming dangerously close to licking the plate.
Cricket has favorite foods, like pumpkin pie and Parmesan cheese, but anything Grandma is eating must at least be sampled. A lick of wine from a finger. A pitted olive. A carrot stick. When it is time for Grandma’s midnight snack, Cricket follows her into the kitchen to stare into the well lit fridge and help choose.
This goes on all day
But Cricket loves her grandma for more than food. She climbs up on to Grandma’s lap and stretches out, draping herself across until her head hangs off one side and her legs dangle from the other. Cricket watches TV from the lap, and gets her scratchies there, and whispers secret messages that only Grandma can hear.
In the morning, Cricket, who is usually sleeping on Grandma’s head, wakes her Grandma up and leads her to the bathroom. She watches from the floor in the kitchen as Grandma makes her morning coffee. Before Butterfly arrived, when Cricket was an only dog, she would then race down the stairs to the front door and wait for the long lead to be attached to her collar so that, while Grandma drank her coffee on the porch, Cricket could run like the wind across the front yard and feel the joy in the air.
When Grandma leaves the house, Cricket stands by the front door, looking out through the glass panels, radiating guilt as loudly as possible. Then she waits on the second to top step of the staircase and squints down at the front door, sometimes for hours. Eventually she makes do with my lap, but it is not the same.
Waiting For Grandma
I’ve always wondered why Cricket chose her grandma as her primary person. Cricket was supposed to be mine. I chose her. I read all of the books. I stayed up nights when she was a puppy. I taught her how to climb stairs and chase sticks. I spent months trying to teach her how to sit, lie down, do a pirouette. But she chose Grandma. I know she loves me, but I also know I’m second best.
And now I have a second dog, Butterfly, who sleeps on my bed and snuggles into my side. And I love it. But I’ve been missing Cricket. And it turns out that Cricket misses me too. She wants both of her people to herself. Even if I am second best, I am still hers. Cricket loves her grandma, but she loves her Mommy too.
My sleepy girl
rachelmankowitz 
Very sweet 🙂
Thank you.
My first papillon was supposed to be my parent’s dog. She, however, had a different view of the matter. I was to be hers, and that was the end of that. But everything very much depends on the dog’s personality–and yet most dogs, like people, can be won over…
When Grandma goes away, Cricket makes do with me. In fact, she refuses to leave me alone for a second, throwing herself at the bathroom door, sitting on my lap while I try to eat, knit, read, write. But she’s so quiet, until Grandma returns and her voice comes back.
We Scotties can be one person dogs and we’re also stubborn so you can’t change our choice.
So stubborn! I could give Cricket hour long scratchies and endless pancakes, and I still wouldn’t be grandma.
Aww, this is so touching! I love this!!
My grandmother was a pet lover too. Your story reminds me, I remember as a little girl, my grandmother gave me a pocket sized poodle, I named Cher. Cher was supposed to be my puppy, but she loved my mother. She wouldn’t let any of my mom’s suitors near her. Guys would come in to date her and this little dog would be biting their leg! It wasn’t until I was 19 when my grandmother gave me a cat I named Happy Jack — Happy Jack loved me the most. Good thing, I was starting to get an animal complex! 🙂
Seriously! Now that Butterfly is here, and follows me around and cozies up to me, it’s definitely raising my self esteem. Cricket thinks her grandma is just the most fascinating, wonderful smelling cozy person on the planet.
Beautiful!
Thank you!
Cricket knows you’re Mom. You’ll always be there when Grandma isn’t. Our dogs do like to yank our emotional chains, don’t they?! 😀 Poppy adores my mother, who can’t be bothered, still Pops greets her with all the optimism that a puppy has that somehow Old Lady Nana will come around. Lovely post!
It amazes me how complex my relationships with my dogs can be. The more you pay attention, the more there is to see.
Dogs are such funny creatures. Who knows what’s going on in their minds sometimes? Our Little Cat Prince is similarly odd in his human preferences. I think he’s changing as he gets older.
I had a cat cousin once who liked to sleep on my chest when I stayed at his house. But, since I’m allergic to cats, it’s hard to know if he liked me or wished me dead.
Cricket is adorable!
Thank you!
Cricket is such a cute puppy! I would love if you followed me and shared some of your adventures and helped my mom with tips!
http://teamoakley.wordpress.com/
thanks!
-Oakley
This story reminds me of my first childhood dog who liked my mom more than me. I’m the one who brushed the dog, took him for walks, played with him when I came home from school, but he followed my mom around.
It’s so unfair, isn’t it? They just choose their person and they can’t unchoose, no matter what.
I know. I was a kid at the time so I felt a bit upset, especially when the dog had separation anxiety when my mother left the room or house. The other family members were still in the room, but the dog ignored us.
My Mum isn’t a real dog person but she brings the dog ham scraps when she comes to visit and our dog, who sadly only thinks with his stomach, gets very excited whenever her car pulls up. Grandma is even starting to warm up to him.
I think just about anyone could gets my dogs’ undying affection with a piece of chicken. It’s humbling. Clearly I need to have chicken outlawed.
Cricket is like me Mum sez – willful but very cute!
Her trainer called her “relentless.” She really is.