A bit of a dog blog - Karen Bush


One of the great things about having a dog - or in my case dogs - is that they give you a guilt-free excuse for stepping away from the keyboard or catching up on the more tedious things like filling in the tax return or housework ... they keep me regularly exercised, make sure I don't forget mealtimes,and ensure plenty of breaks for essential maintenance such as grooming, training, teeth brushing, nail clipping, tummy tickling, treat feeding and general spoiling and gazing at in adoration.They also ensure that I get up at a sensible hour and don't waste the morning lolling in bed ...
But just recently Archie has taken it into his head that five o'clock (we're still talking about the morning here) is the new six o'clock. The day now starts something like a variation on the old 'are we there yet?' scenario. It goes a bit like this:

Archie: Quick! Quick! Wake up!
Me: (sleepily) What? Why?
Archie: WAKE UP!!!
Me: What? Is the house on fire? Have burglars broken in?
Archie: (bouncing) It's time to get up!
Me: Already?
Archie: Yes! We've overslept!
Me: (panicking) Really?
Archie: Yes, come ON!
Me: Let me just check.
Archie: (scratching at the door) No time for that, let's go! Now!
Me: Hey, the alarm clock says it's only five o'clock
Archie: Are you sure it's working properly?
Me: Yes it is.
Archie: You're quite sure?
Me: Yes! Look, the second hand just moved. Go back to bed
Archie: Pffffft
[We all settle back into bed. Five minutes later ....]
Archie: Quick! Quick! Wake up!
Me: (yawning) What? Feels like I've only just gone to sleep ...
Archie: WAKE UP!!!
Me: Look, it's only just after five. It says so on this alarm clock. See? And on my wristwatch.
Archie: Maybe they're both broken.
Me: Gah. Just go back to bed. We are not getting up until six. So there
Archie: Pffffffft
[Five minutes later]
Archie: Quick! Quick! Wake up!
Me: (wearily) This had better not be another false alarm call ...
Archie: Of course not. I am never wrong. Unlike your alarm clock.
Me: Oh come on, it's only quarter past five.
Archie: Impossible. Check again.
Me: No. Just go back to bed!!!
Archie: If you get up and go downstairs you could turn on the telly and check the time.
Me: No! We are not getting up until six. So there!
Archie: You're sure you don't want to check?
Me: GO. BACK. TO. BED
Archie: (sticks nose under duvet) Pffffft.
Me: What now?
Archie: Can I get in with you? It's cold out here.
Me: You have plenty of covers to snuggle under in your own bed.
Archie: But they've gone all cold now.
Me: Oh for .... oh come on then.
[Five minutes later]
Archie: (sticking cold wet nose in my ear) Quick! Quick! Wake up!

This continues until six if I can bear it, when I wearily totter out of bed. Archie and Angel go out for a brief tour round the garden, come back in and have breakfast, and then go back to bed in order to build up their strength for the rigours of the day ahead. Sometimes it's easier to give up, go with the flow and just get up early.
This does of course have consequences for my writing. Once I've got up, I'm awake and going back to sleep isn't going to happen. So in the extra hour I get blogs written, deal with emails and do a lot of the more tedious paperworky stuff that eats up proper writing time and which often puts me off attempting any at all. It's also a good time for browsing through possible book covers and catching up on FB - those things which tend to become displacement activities, used to avoid doing any writing ... So that when I finally settle down in front of the keyboard, there really are no excuses for not getting on with it.
So if you are having problems with your WIP and need to increase your productivity, I have the perfect solution: Get A Dog. Preferably one who is an early riser.


 


More dog stuff in which Archie and Angel ponder on everything from
why there is no Wood Age to the scarcity of turkey, and how
Stonehenge really got there, can be found at
A Tale of Two Wippitts


If you like a bit of garden with your dog blog you might also like to visit
Dog Friendly Gardening



Comments

Penny Dolan said…
Nice post, Karen! Cats don't work in quite such an enthusiastic way.
madwippitt said…
Yes, I've noticed their lack of commitment to helping generate income ... :-)
Mari Biella said…
This struck a chord, Karen. It reminded me of when I had a dog, who certainly had the effect of making me value my writing time more than ever!
Lydia Bennet said…
Children do much the same thing for years and years... then after a brief hiatus, they wake you up coming IN at 5am, ditto. Who needs sleep!

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