Christmas as Seen Through Shay Shay’s Eyes

Christmas is big in our house, not news.  The whole house gets turned upside down with decorations.  Parties, celebrations, and general merriment happen almost daily.  Vast amounts of good smelling foods are constantly being cooked.  Delivery people are coming to the door, sometimes two or three at a time.  Wrapping paper, bows, ribbons and especially tissue paper are plentiful.  All these are things that Shay Shay, our beloved labradoodle loves.  Christmas is her favorite time of year.

Today my friend Lynn, affectionately called Baby Chick in our house and I had a few friends over for a little lunch and Shay was sure the whole do was just for her.  She would stand at the glass door staring out as friends, some new; some unfamiliar came to her door certainly to see her she thought.  Festive in her big red bow she would stand on her hind legs and greet each guest.

Certain that she was the center of everyone’s attention she circled the table as people enjoyed their lunch, pausing by the person who laughed the loudest anticipating some food might fall from their mouth, but none did.

Shay is fairly well behaved, but she can show some frustration if none of these humans who came just to rub her belly were doing their job.  At one point as Shay was demanding attention I told her, “Go jump in Baby Chick’s lap.”  Shay turned from me and scanned the room and made a beeline for Lynn, bounding in an unladylike way on to her.   Lynn and Shay are fast friends and Shay never misses an opportunity to exploit Lynn’s weakness for a furry lovey.

Although there were plenty of unattended plates of cake sitting right at Shay’s nose she waited to take a nibble until all the guests had left the room and then only had one small taste.  She was greatly disappointed it was not a liver cake.

Shay politely waited until all the guests had gone before she took some tissue paper and ripped it into tiny shreds, as is her favorite pastime.  When the house was empty she despondently lay by the Christmas tree surveying wondering when the next party would start.  Like a small child on Christmas morning after all the presents have been unwrapped, Shay was a little let down.

But the party is not over yet.  It is just the beginning of the whole holiday season.  More cooking and wrapping, more friends will arrive, the festivities continue and as far as Shay thinks we are doing this all for her.  After all she is the baby of the house and isn’t Christmas more magical when seen through the eyes of a child or at least a very cute dog?