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As you may know, I have a new puppy. His name is Darcy. Yes, I know that is a girl’s name now, but he was named after Mr. Darcy, see. DH named him, which I think is very cool.
Anyway, we got this puppy about 6 weeks ago. He is getting big already. Bigger than I expected. I thought Border Collies were medium sized dogs, but he is aiming to be on the big side of medium. But this blog isn’t about puppies. It is about experiences making you remember prior experiences, and making you wonder how the heck you managed so well in the past compared to today.
This puppy is a lot of work. He requires a lot of time. He needs to be trained, etc etc etc etc etc. I get to do most of it. And he is EXHAUSTING ME. He is ALWAYS THERE. Just like my past puppies. Just like my kids when they were toddlers.
How the heck did I do it? Where did I find the energy?
I know the answer, of course. I just did. Some things you don’t think about. You just do it.
When we look at lives from the outside, we often wonder, “How do they do it?” Maybe it is a family that takes care of an ill relative or member, or a disabled person managing in an inhospitable world. Maybe it is a woman who found herself taking care of six children who are not her own. We try to picture ourselves in their shoes and we can’t. Surely they were born with powers of patience, energy, and instincts we don’t have. But if you ask them about it, often you just get a shrug. You just do it, they will say.
Sometimes it is not that serious— it is someone agreeing to do something that they don’t really have to do and that common sense says they should decline doing. Like getting a new puppy and dealing with the pee and poop when, really, the new puppy days could be over.
I have about 5 things in my life that were serious “You just do it” things and a lot more that were not so serious “You just do it” things. Among the former were, and continue to be, writing the books. Among the latter is Mr. Darcy.
Do you have any You Just Do It things in your life, now or in the past? Serious or not so serious?
What was the most impressive You Just Do It thing you have seen anyone do?
30 Comments on “You Just Do It”
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I’m having the same puppy experience, Madeline. I keep looking at Reggie and thinking “No wonder the last dog was the way he was, how did I do this with two little kids?” I did it, but not well. I remember Elwood taking months to pottie train. Reggie took two weeks. Because I was right there every second and not chasing kids in my spare time.
I just finished a “just do it!” book. Some are, some aren’t. This one was.
Other just do it things are cleaning and public speaking and paperwork.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:24 am.
I am writing a Just Do It book right now, Lori. One reason the blog got up late. What day is it again? LOL. And I agree about doing it with little kids around— How? But I did.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:28 am.
Madeline, a Border Collie puppy? How fun and exhausting!
My less than serious “just do it” times came from visiting my daughter in NYC. Others on this blog LOVE the big city and people watching – not me. I swore I would not ever go to that city again…then she went to grad school there! DH and I drove into NYC four times for that child.
My most impressive example to date has been watching my Mother and her sisters care for their Mother as she was dying of cancer. It can still bring tears to my eyes.
I know you will have so much fun with Darcy. Puppy kisses are wonderful.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:26 am.
My two sisters took on most of the work with my mother during her last years, and that definitely was in the You Just Do It category. They both amazed me. I’d like to think I would have done it as well, but I can’t envision it.
And he is learning how to kiss the right way now. For a few weeks he tended to nip (ouch).
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:31 am.
Our second son was “normal” for the first six months of his life. Then the infant spasms developed which later turned into seizures. Fear comes into play first…will he be okay, will he live. Afterwards you do what the doctor tells you, you learn by doing. John was 16 before I figured out that he is considered disabled. That is what save him because I treated him the same as his older brother. The only difference was that John had a medical problem that Denny didn’t have. John is high functional retarded, married to another special needs person. They live on their own. That was my goal since I wouldn’t be around forever. In almost 44 years of marriage we have raised 3 puppies. The first one was the easiest because John trained him in less than three weeks.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:31 am.
Sandi, caring for a disabled child is among the most impressive You Just Do It things, in my opinion, and I have several friends whom I have watched do this with amazing calm and love. It is wonderful that John is on his own and married. Your steady love and support are why.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:49 am.
I am also in the midst of training a puppy. She is a chocolate lab and 5 months right now. There are times I ask myself why I wanted to do this all over again, but then I look at her and she gives me one of her head tilts and it all feels worth it again. Right now she is a 45 pound lap dog, and I hope she grows out of it before she becomes a 70 pound lap dog. lol.
Last night I had a ‘just do it’ night. I woke up to a sick soon to be 3 year old. In the middle of the night, I needed to change bed sheets, clean her carpet, give her a bath, and then sit up with her all night. It’s one of those things as mom’s that must be done and we just do it.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:47 am.
Moms are expert at this, aren’t they? I remember that oldest son always got sick with DH was out of town, so it as usually Just Do It Alone.
Wow, a lab. 40 pounds and still a puppy. wow. I feel like a piker now, lol.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 11:31 am.
My husband is away for the week, and like you said, the kids always seem to be sick when he is away. I am pretty sure it was the same last time he was gone on business.
I stand in awe of single parents. I honestly don’t know how they do it. Working and then coming home to kids, all with no relief. I am not sure that I would handle a situation like that very well.
I keep telling myself I will be glad when she isn’t in puppy stage anymore, but I know when she is big and lazy, I will miss puppy stage. One thing I won’t miss, though-Puppy teeth!
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 11:47 am.
He is ADORABLE. My Moose is 2.5 years now, and I cried a couple of days when he was a puppy. But he’s the best dog now. You forget how much work sweet sweet puppy fur can be.
I have had some very serious and major “just do it” moments in my life. I’ll leave it at that
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:54 am.
Darcy is just losing his baby fuzz. I will miss it. He really is adorable. Especially right now while he is sleeping
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 11:32 am.
I’ve had some pretty serious ‘just do it’ moments, but the main one I think was letting my mom go. She had been sick for a long, LONG time and I really think that she was waiting for me (as her baby) to say that it was ok for her to go and I would be fine….she went peacefully in her sleep about an hour later. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but it had to be done…so I did it. We had all really been grieving for years, so it was really more of a relief when she finally wasn’t suffering and in pain anymore.
Being a mom, I’m sure you can relate, but I worked full time, came home and cooked dinner most nights and helped kids with homework, and took them to whatever extracurricular they were doing at the time, and collapsed into bed exhausted, slept for what seemed like a nanosecond, then started the day all over again when the alarm went off. Now, I’m SO tired when I get home, I’m not sure how I did it.
There have been a lot of minor things as well, but those were the main ones that came to mind. Basically, I think most women are just wired that way…when something needs to be done, you put on your big girl panties and get it done….then go and have a nice margarita.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 11:23 am.
That mararita sounds good
I’m sorry to hear that you had to do that with your mom. We did too, so I understand, and also know what you mean about grieving for years before that day.
I hear you about our being wired this way. I just get a little tired wearing big girl panties sometimes, ya know? And boy, I do relate to the work/family treadmill we have when the kids are young.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 11:35 am.
Doesn’t it?
Thanks, and I’m sorry about yours…it’s really hard, but the relief was stronger than the pain. Truly, it was more painful to watch her suffer than it was to let her go.
Oh, absolutely! I get tired of it too. Sometimes I wish the world could just stop for a few hours so I can catch my breath a little, then I’ll get back on the merry-go-round.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 1:00 pm.
Julie, what a beautiful, painful moment that must have been! I’m sure that your courage helped ease your mother’s mind, and made her transition more peaceful.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:15 am.
Yes. My take on it is to look around and see the mom with four children, the youngest with CP, who still strives to be cheerful and upbeat despite the bags under her eyes and the weight on her heart. Or the neighbor who is shuttling her mom to doctor after doctor, all saying different things, prescribing medication after medication while Mom continues to decline. Or the dad who lost his job the day after his house flooded and doesn’t know how he’ll put a roof over his family’s head. Do I want to deal with the my “must dos”? Hell, no. Will I? You bet. Compared to so many, I have no reason to complain and much for which to be grateful.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 11:53 am.
You have a very sane way of thinking of it.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 2:02 pm.
Since having my own kids, I wonder how my mom could raise 7 kids because my 2 kids are about all I can handle. There’s my sister with FOUR!!!! boys. I wouldn’t have kept trying for a girl after 2. But it works for her because she loves camping, Boy Scouts, and all those kinds of activities.
I wonder how my teacher friends do it every single day because the thought of keeping 20-34 kids in line, plus teaching them, absolutely overwhelms me. My friends are incredible teachers. They always have kids coming back to talk to them during recess, after school, etc. Then, there’s the few bad teachers who give the teaching profession a not so good image. It makes me mad, and makes me wish that it was easier to get rid of the bad teachers.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 12:41 pm.
My mom raised five of us. I will say that by the time I came around, the youngest, she and dad had gotten a tad worn out, lol. Not that I took advantage of that, mind you
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 2:04 pm.
Just like my baby sister and little brother didn’t take advantage of it either, lol.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 4:31 pm.
My Mom was a single Mom who raised two kids, got no child support, worked 2 jobs at different times, managed to have a life of her own, and she JUST DID IT for most of her life. She was so brave and took so many chances….I wish I was more like her in that way!
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 4:31 pm.
She sounds incredible, Robin. So many women are so brave in their lives. It is humbling to see them.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 6:57 pm.
Sometimes you just gotta put on the big girl panties and suck it up.
My Aunt took care of my uncle for over 35 years with incapacitating brain tumors, she clothed, bathed, fed and held down a full time job as a nurse. Her kids all went into nursing and pitched in. I still don’t know how they did it, but they did.
There’s a special place in heaven for people like that.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 6:02 pm.
I agree, Pesky, and that is what I normally think when I see things like this—they are saints among us who get no credit in this life for it, but get their reward later.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 6:59 pm.
My “just do it” right now is writing most of a book in a month. If I sat back and looked at it, I’d never get it done, but it must be finished so there I go. *g*
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 6:06 pm.
Somehow I think that you are Just Doing It better than I am right now on this particular challenge.I wish I could say that I only have a hundred pages to go, but it is running long so I have to factor in fearless editing down too. Good luck to us both
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 7:00 pm.
I need to be “just do it” on the current book. This blog is a good kick in the pants. Not that I’m going to thank you for that.
My mom and dad were the Queen and King of just do it. My dad being a paraplegic and just doing it every single day of his life, and my mom being married to a paraplegic, by choice, when disabilities weren’t accepted as part of the norm as they are now. I don’t know how they did it, and how they kept laughing every single day of their lives, but they did. I admire them both so much!
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 7:22 pm.
My mom had serious surgery on her neck last Wednesday and came home on Saturday night. I have been her primary caregiver. She sleeps in the recliner in the livingroom and I am in the other one next to her, wide awake in case she needs something or has one of her frequent panic attacks from her medication. I make sure she has her medication, has food and water, gets to the bathroom and is warm and comfortable. I sleep when I can, usually in the morning for a few hours when my father wakes up. However, I don’t mind doing what I am doing. This is my mom, after all. If I didn’t care for her, she would have had to go to a rehab hospital or a nursing home. I am her daughter. This is my time to do for her all the things she did for me.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:21 pm.
First of all, Darcy is just TOO CUTE for words! And border collies are incredibly smart dogs. I know he is a joy and will be an even bigger joy once he grows up! I’ve raised all sorts of puppies, including two deaf Great Danes – Honor and Glory. They were litter mates, born deaf and topped out at @ 150 pounds each. In addition to the regular training one encounters in raising a dog I had to come up with ways to communicate with them. It was definitely one of those “just do it” things. Eventually they learned fifteen signs devised from American sign language and I could call them from anywhere in the house by thumping a cane on the floor.
My major “just do it” right now is sticking with this writing gig and believing I WILL sell my book(s) to a publishing house!
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 10:49 pm.
Cute puppy! Going to grad school full time and working full time was a Just Do It moment for me. I have some friends who have undertaken such impressive tasks, like taking care of a 98 year old grandfather. That always makes me look at them with awe.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 7:23 am.