Dog Food

What is it with boys and dog food?  When we were kids, my brothers used to dare each other to eat dog biscuits.  And then their friends would dare each other to do it too.  And they all ate it!  And they laughed like crazy about it!

My boys, my sweet little babies LOVE to sneak into the dog food!  Caden calls it "sharing" when I catch the two of them in the big bag of kibble and Charlie would be standing, patiently waiting with his tail wagging in anticipation for his turn!

I have a story to tell about this, I promise.  But before I do, let me just say that my boys are the coolest kids around!  They are sweet, polite and super fun boys.  They treat dogs kindly, laugh at funny stuff (like when someone farts in the house, they're all about it) and when they give hugs they give the GREATEST hugs in the world.  And trust me, I feed my kids.  There is not a hungry belly in my home.  So why is it that when I browse the doggy treats isle in a petstore, I find myself looking at ingredients thinking, "Okay if Caden happened to get into this, is it at least healthy?"  Ahhh!!!

So it was Thanksgiving and Caden was almost 2 years old (at this time I was still pregnant with Sean) and my brother Paul and his fiancee were visiting.  Caden was a huge dog food fan.  Anytime our dog Stiley was eating, I constantly caught Caden sneaking into Stiley's food dish as he ate. Everytime I caught this, I'd run to Caden and make him spit it out, telling him it was for dogs and not for "us."  Sometimes I would find Caden's cereal bowl filled with dog food and Stiley would be eating cereal out of his dog dish.  Caden was swapping foods! 

Anyway, Paul and I were in the dining room chatting and laughing at things I can't even remember now.  I stood up, realizing it was dinner time for Stiley, and began to pour his food into his dish.  Out of nowhere, Caden appears and stands by Stiley as he ate.  "Caden," I said in a stern voice, "No eating dog food, please.  It's for dogs."

He just grinned at me and said, "I help clean up!"  He then bent down and, one by one, began picking the dog food up from the floor (Stiley was a messy eater) and then placed the kibble into the dog dish.  After the third one, he looked up at me and said, "See?  I clean up!"  Finally, satisfied that he was just going to clean up, I took a seat at the dining table and continued my conversation.

Then I saw that Paul kept his eyes on Caden, giggling as he watched him.  I turned to see my sweet Mommy's Little Helper pick up the LAST piece of kibble and glanced over his shoulder at me.  "Caden," I warned, "Put it in Stiley's bowl, please."

Caden, his eyes now reflecting deep thought, looked from me to Paul, then to the dog dish.  And SWOOSH!!! Off he ran with one little piece of dog kibble in his tiny little fist.  "Caden!" I called, chasing after him.  "Caden, that's for dogs!" 

I chased him around the dining table when he went straight for a corner, where he stopped with his back to me.  Before I could reach him, he glanced over his shoulder at me, STUCK THE DOG FOOD IN HIS MOUTH and chewed it all up.  Then he turned and presented two little open palms and said, "See Mommy?  All gone!  I clean!"

At this point, Paul is laughing his head off.  I'm standing there, astonished that this 2 year old little boy just thought out a plan to sneak a piece of dog food into his mouth and get away with it.  Soon, I was laughing hysterically and I knew that didn't do anything but encourage this fascination.

I don't know what it is.  Do little boys dare each other to eat stuff only because deep down they really wanna see what it tastes like?  And then because they know it's not normal, not socially accepted, they think it's even cooler to actually try to get away with eating it?  Or maybe dog food just tastes good.  Who knows.  All I know is it's a gross idea and I wouldn't have anything to do with eating the stuff.