I owe dog owners everywhere an apology. I admit to rolling my eyes and thinking, “Really? It’s just a dog!” whenever you shared photos and stories about your pup.

Most days I look around, and everyone around me seems normal and quite sensible. Then along comes a day and a couple of experiences that turns everything on its head and leaves me feeling like the world isn’t as right as I believed.

I had one of those days yesterday.

People are always asking me how I manage to spend enough individual time with each of my children. Quite frankly, I don’t. It’s not something that causes me stress since I firmly believe that what they may miss in one-on-one time with me, they make up for with the amazing interactions and relationships they have with each other. Besides, on the odd occasion where I have found myself alone with a child, I’ve noted they’ve spent most of our time together obsessing about what the others might be doing.