Oh what a week it has been. I've had two extra children at my house all week due to the lack of parenting skills of the biological parents and the grandparents being out of town. So...the lovely 3 year old niece and the exuberant 8 year old nephew have been testing my patience and mothering skills since last Thursday evening.

Oh the stories I could tell...but I'll just share one to let you know how my week has been and why I'm so relieved to see it end.

The other evening while watching t.v. the sweet niece was happily chasing Scrappy Dog vivaciously around the living room. To my surprise, Scrappy Dog looked terrified of the sweet niece and quite unsure of how to handle the little tyke since previous attempts at her nose were severely punished. Given that Scrappy was trying to be a good boy he rolled over onto his back hoping for a belly rub. Immediately the sweet niece noticed the little dog's penis and said "Aunt Nina! Aunt Nina! What is that? Does Scrappy have a bone stuck in his belly? Is that the bone we gave him to eat the other day? Look!!! It's STUCK!!!" I tried so hard to ignore her question and stifle my giggles but she's relentless. So as calmly as I could I told her that Scrappy does not have a bone stuck in his belly. In fact, that is not a bone at all. I told her that is how Scrappy goes pee-pee. This answer was enough to tame her curiosity for all of 20 seconds before she asked me what was the "pink thing" poking out from the top. I put Scrappy back in his cage and didn't let him out for any extended periods of time for the remainder of her stay.

Thank God it's FRIDAY!!