Simba

Just when COVID hit and life for pretty much everyone was nothing but staying inside, I decided to make a big commitment of adopting a dog, Simba. He was only about 4 months old and ever since I started living with Simba, my life really changed. Raising a puppy was much more difficult than I ever expected with all the vet bills, food, toys, and other expenses that were required to raise a healthy and happy dog. But aside from all of the financial costs, I found myself waking up every morning at 8am to start my busy day and basically, I could no longer find my lazy self anymore. To be completely honest, I used to start my day at about noon, then have quick lunch, listen to some online classes, watch some Netflix, have dinner, and end my day. It was boring and unproductive, just as it sounds like. Now, I know that there is someone.. or some other being, I should say, that needs my absolute attention and assistance for basically every single needs. Having this huge responsibility and commitment really made me think of what it may feel like to be an adult, having a dependent that always relies on me. The fact that this dog belongs to me and depends on me made me behave as a mother, and I found myself think of my own mother several times a day. On a side note, I too am slowly becoming dependent on Simba, maybe because he’s basically my son. It’s truly surprising to feel how I feel when my dog unintentionally comforts me after a tough day. You really can’t help but to start waiting for a cuddle from your dog after hours of work, even if he peed on and chewed through every single object that he could find. After watching hundreds of youtube videos about how to prevent your dog from getting excessively attached to you, I actually found myself being the one excessively attached to my dog. I’m still in a learning process of how to raise a perfectly happy dog, but I think my imperfect self has a lot of work to do.