By Mackenzie Harrell ’17 | Assistant Business Manager

I’m a mom. And when my four-legged, furry, little baby greets me when I come home from school, it is one of the best feelings in the world.

Every morning, he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. I hear him crying, so I go get him and hope that if I take him down stairs it will soothe him.

I, like most kids, begged my parents continuously for a dog, and so when that failed, I went the traditional route. I fired up the old PowerPoint, in hope of showing my family what they could have. My parents weren’t budging.

So, I did what any kid would do. I set up an appointment with a breeder in Findlay, Ohio to go meet some puppies. Needless to say, my parents weren’t exactly thrilled when I told them we basically had to go. But the next day, my mom, dad, 5-year-old sister and I got in the car. My sister was more excited than I was and really helped my case.

I knew once we reached the breeder, there was no way my dad, who cried during “March of the Penguins,” could ever resist the sweet faces of the adoptable puppies.

I was right. Upon arrival, the breeder took out a tri-colored puppy and put it into my arms. We played for awhile, and as we left, my parents said there was still a lot to consider, but I knew they wanted him, even if they couldn’t accept it yet.

After an hour of driving, I asked: “When should I call the breeder and say we will pick our puppy up?”

My parents sat quietly for awhile, until my mom broke the ice and said, “I guess next Wednesday would work.”

My little sister screeched with joy, but I didn’t have to. My master plan had fallen into place.

It was such an exciting day to go get my puppy, and it happened to be the day of my last AP test: “Congratulations on taking a long test. Here’s a puppy.”

I couldn’t wait to play with the puppy and watch him be an angel, and, of course, always have him go potty outside because I was sure at 10 weeks he was definitely already potty trained.

I soon learned my mistake.

It’s true what they say about puppies, or pets in general. They are a lot of work. Right now my puppy is still learning how to do everything. At 13 weeks he hasn’t quite mastered the idea of only going to the bathroom outside, which makes for some hectic days.

As all parents do, mine warned me about the difficulties of raising an animal. I looked past that and only saw his sweet little face, and was determined I could handle it. I was distracted by his deceiving puppy eyes that seemed to say, “I would never make a mistake.” And while I think I’m doing a decent job for a 17-year-old mother, I have a lot of people helping me out.

It’s definitely rewarding though. Watching him run through the grass, inevitably knowing he’s gonna fall and having him snuggle with me on the couch, all make this messy situation worth it.