All I Want For Christmas

Is YOU!

This builds a little bit on last week’s blog, about what makes a happy animal.

(BTW, I did NOT know that Mariah Carey was the one who made the song “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” The first time I heard it was when we watched “Love Actually”. Just a little out of the holiday loop.)

This holiday season, Glenn and I are not doing presents. We’re buying ourselves a house in Wisconsin, and that feels like present enough, ha ha ha! 

We usually have stockings for all the family members (that’s a lot of little socks for the cats, dogs and horses), but this year, what they’re getting is more of us. We plan to spend some time outside with the horses, grooming and fussing over them, take the dogs for a good long walk and romp at their favorite dog park, and watching holiday movies in our jammies, covered in cats (the best blankets in the world). Amy and Bernadette will make sure their spot on the couch is occupied by no one but them.

Will our animals feel left out? What do you think?

If the dogs are given the choice between a treat and a trip with us in the truck, which would they choose? Okay, they’d choose the treat and then stand by the door to the truck until we took them for a ride. They are opportunists, that’s for sure. But seriously, if you give your dog a ball, or your cat a feather toy, it’s there for you to play with them. THAT’S the part they like best. It’s not the toy; it’s the interaction they have with YOU.

So all they want for the Holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwaanza, and anything else that comes along this time of year), is to spend some quality, loving time with you. 

Think about that during the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Maybe that’s what the humans in your life would prefer, too. It’s nice to have a little present, but we all have so much “stuff”, do we really need anything else? 

Our undivided presence is the greatest gift of all. So breathe. Watch your animals (and human friends). Take them up on the invitation to spend quality time together. It will make your day. And theirs.