The Importance of Guaranteed Nap times for Old and Young alike

'Aren't you ready yet?'

The importance of guaranteed nap times for old and young alike is something me and our girl puppy Seew can relate to.

While there are currently no pictures in captivity that I can offer to prove the truth of that comment (you’ll have to settle for another one showing Seew’s piercing gaze asking ‘Aren’t you ready yet?’), you can bet that we exercise the nap option religiously just about every single time we make our biweekly family pilgrimage to the big city for groceries and shopping.

From her location on the back seat Seew tracks our progress through town with eyes and senses fully alert, just in case we happen to steer ourselves into one of her favorite Daddy/Seew nap zones like Walmart or the Great Canadian Dollar Store.

She knows full well by now that both of those places are  fair game locations where Mom is certain to leave us to go shopping on her own, and her and Dad can cuddle up together on the front seat and cozily nap the time away until her return.

In fact it’s become such an established and formalized part of our routine  that no sooner do we pull into the parking lot of either of those places, before Seew is already attempting to crowd her way into the front seat and push Mom out her door so she can get settled on my lap.

It’s now so ingrained into her furry little psyche that this is going to happen that it’s also become a familiar and hilarious part of every town trip we all make together,

It helps if you try to picture the rest of the scenario – Seew’s dark eyes flashing and her feet dancing impatiently on Mom’s recently vacated passenger seat as she waits for Dad to make all the necessary seat adjustments that will allow it to recline backwards into the anticipated nap position. Then she darts onto my lap and does her doggy “three-times-turnaround” thing before plunking herself contentedly down on my lap, heaves a huge sigh of happiness, and rests her head on my extended right hand that’s cupping her forefeet. She knows my other hand will be wrapped comfortably around her butt end to help keep her in place, so all things are now well in her little doggy world of love and happiness leading to our nap time.

To the accompaniment of innumerable little sighs and wiggles to settle herself more comfortably into position, it’s usually not long before her eyelids are drifting downwards and she’s off to doggy dreamland.

In the meantime of course Dad’s been doing his own sighing and wiggling to get himself comfortably settled too, which no doubt would be a source of high amusement to anyone happening to observe us getting settled down together. One old dog and one young dog, both shuffling around in unison to make sure everything’s arranged just so to fit our personal images of comfort and contentment.

It’s anybody’s guess as to who does the most snoring and snuffling as we drift along together in dreamland. All I know is I keep waking myself up with my own snores often enough to hear hers, and I can feel myself smiling about it as I drift off again with the warmth of her weight on my lap.

I’ve learned that the need for these happy nap times are one of the benefits of increasing age, and Seew has learned really quickly and well how to take full advantage of them to our mutual benefit and enjoyment.

Now you understand the importance of guaranteed nap times for old and young alike in our world.