Stress Reduction

I nearly gave away the family dog today. Seriously...

Picture #1 - This is Daisy sleeping beside my leg with her legs in the air. LOL

Picture #2 - This is me with a migraine headache, and Daisy is keeping me company.

Picture #3 - This is Daisy begging for help to get onto my daughter's bed.

First reason:

When I was a kid growing up, we lived in a lot of filth. Mom was (is) a hoarder. Add to that all of the various pets we've had over the years, and it was really awful. I love my mom and she has tons of great qualities. She cares about people, and she is very generous to name a couple. But this is an area where she struggles. Always has and probably always will. I understand it to be a type of illness, rather than a personality trait. Sufficed to say that, while living in that situation, there was lots of stuff, and lots of animal "waste" about the house. This kind of thing makes my brain short circuit, perhaps more than the average person, because it's SO triggering when I have an animal who makes the occasional mess. So this dog, she has been making messes in my room. And I completely renovated my room, new paint, new laminate flooring in place of the carpet. She seems to be drawn to carpet, but even if she does mess on my floor, I can at least clean it sufficiently. *sigh* .

Second reason:

The dog belongs to my 13 year old daughter. She has not been helping with the dog in quite some time. It's apparently "gross" to clean up after her. She is happy to allow me (the one who is triggered my animal waste, so I clean it up fast) to clean it for her. I am happy to take care of the dog on the weekends when she is at her dad's, but I feel that she needs to be on top of letting her out, and all the rest.

Third reason:

My personal stress levels are quite high, but they are manageable most of the time. I shoulder much - no ALL of the responsibility for things here. Even if I am not doing the dishes, I still delegate that work to the kids. So, if I ask a kid to do their chore, and they resist, that stresses me. So much so that if I am already stressed, I won't bother even asking because I don't want to deal with the argument that ensues. Add to that paying bills on time, attending University, house and yard care, feeding kids, clothing them, making sure they are doing ok in school and otherwise. Then there is still the pending divorce which isn't finished yet... it all adds up.

Something's gotta give.

So I had a talk with both of my kids and my niece. They never realize how much stress I have because I'm good at managing it. But it doesn't take much to push those levels into the red.

So, we're keeping the dog (for now) on a trial basis. I am keeping the number of the lady I found to give her a new home in case I change my mind.

My son wants money to drive here and there and I said no. If he wants money, I would definately love to give him money, if he becomes more helpful in reducing my stress. Taking the garbage out would be one of those things, for example. He has the choice: be more helpful and I'll throw a little cash his way. Do nothing and I give nothing. He can either work for me, or get a job, but I am not going to just supply him with cash willy nilly.

I find it stressful to take a stand. But sometimes knowing that doing nothing is going to be more stressful is enough motivation to take that stand. LOL

Hopefully this will help. And in the meantime, life marches on. :D