‘Since our dog and cats sleep in our son’s bed, he is a lot happier’

It gives some dust on the sleeping floor, but since son Hugo (8) of Ciska (33) and Luciën (36) sleeps in bed with the dog and cats, the house is much cozier.

ciska: “When I was pregnant with Hugo, my husband Luciën and I agreed: our cats were not allowed in the baby room under any circumstances. The crib was for our baby – as was the playpen and pram, by the way. Imagine if one of them soon lay down on our child. Or scratched him. Plus I found it dirty, cat hair and bacteria in our baby’s bed.

House rules

The animals adhered neatly to our house rules. Hugo was born, the cats willingly let themselves be pulled by their tails and hair, and never one jumped into the crib or bouncer.

Hugo turned two and we got a puppy: Senna. Cozy, we thought, and the completion of our family. The same rules applied to Senna: the living room belongs to everyone, the sleeping floor belongs only to the people.

Responsibility

Hugo loved our animals from the very first moment, and she loved him. At the age of four, he already took responsibility for feeding, which he did not forget for a day. For him they were perhaps the brothers that Luciën and I never gave him.

He went to primary school, and that’s where the trouble started. Hugo was not comfortable in the group. Not that the kids were bullying him, but he didn’t belong either. Where all his classmates crowded with their parents at three o’clock to meet, Hugo always went home alone. To his best friends: our pets.

Torture

He is now in fourth grade. School is torture for him; every morning it is crying. He feels lonely, has a fear of failure and low self-esteem. The only time I see him revive is when he cuddles with our beasts. It’s unbelievable what kind of band they have. Not only the dog, but also the cats jump up as soon as he comes home from school. They never do that with my husband and me.

Also read: Baby on the way? This is how you can prepare your pet for that

entwined

It kind of happened by accident that the dog fell asleep with Hugo about a year ago. It was just a struggle at home at the time; Hugo had such a short fuse. Everything I asked of him ended in conflict. Whether he wanted to hang his coat on the coat rack. Came to the table for dinner. If the TV could be turned down a bit.

He had been talking to a pedagogue for at least six months, when one evening he frantically left for his room. The dog must have sneaked in secretly; In any case, I hadn’t noticed that he was up against all the rules. When I went to look after fifteen minutes, they were entwined in a deep sleep. I couldn’t bring myself to wake them up. They didn’t report back until the next morning. Hugo because he had to go to school, the dog because he had skipped his late evening walk and had to pee.

Relaxed

Remarkably enough, Hugo was much more relaxed the next day. Cheerful, almost. When he asked if Senna could sleep with him again, I didn’t want to refuse. That became a habit, and every day Hugo got a little lighter. happier. The cats also crept in stealthily. It is unimaginable that Hugo still finds a place to sleep; when I give him a kiss at eleven when we go to bed ourselves, the animals occupy most of his bed and Hugo lies against the wall on the edge of his mattress.

salvaged

It goes against everything we ever agreed to. Hugo’s bed is a nest of bacteria, and I have to vacuum upstairs every day. But when I see how safe he finally feels, and how calm, I think: that hygiene does something for me. Happiness makes him much healthier.”

This story was previously in Kek Mama.

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