I know it’s an off-leash park. I know you and your canine love the ability to galloping through the wilderness without tethers.
But you’re not the only one in the park. There are those of us who like to run with our babies, or hike with our toddlers or stroll with our grandparents through these parks.
Vancouver’s well-behaved canine population can take part in special off-leash privileges … not exclusively for dogs but are to be shared with all park users. Owners are responsible for the actions of their dogs. [source]
Yes, there are big signs that say “Off Leash Dog Park” when you enter the area, but they do not also say “Dogs Will Jump On You and Eat Your Baby Park.”
I run along Lynn Creek a couple times a week. Jen doesnt like it because it’s an off leash park, I don’t mind it, I’ve never had a problem with a dog or owner. They usually run right past me, chasing after a stick, of the owners call them back and they listen.
Now dogs are particularly freaky when you have a baby in a stroller. The head height of the dog is pretty much even with the head height of your baby. So to think that a nasty flea bitten varmint could lunge and rip your child’s skull to bits is not totally unreasonable.
Today, on my run with Zizou, a pit bull looking pup ran towards us. I turned the stroller around and looked at the owner as if to say “come on, call your dog off.” She yelled, the dog didnt listen, it kept right up at us, jumped on me at which time I started yelling and cursing at the owner to get her mutt down.
She took issue with me bringing my baby in an off leash dog park.
Like I said, I know it’s an off leash area. I expect dogs to run around, I just don’t expect them to jump on me or get in my child’s face.
If you can’t heel your animal, I suggest you stick to the leashed parks for a while. Yes, the sign says Off Leash Dog Park, but if your dog attacks me and my child, you’ll have to look for my number, call me up and ask “Why Did You Kick My Dog?”
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
Trust is leaning out a window on the 4th floor of a burning building, holding your toddler in your arms and … letting go.
This situation played out in Germany yesterday. A father throwing his son from a burning building to the waiting arms of rescuers below.
Is that trust? Is that love? Is that courage?
All I know is I don’t think I could have done it. Jen and I talked about it. If it had been either of us, we would have jumped holding Zacharie, hoping that our body would break the fall.
I don’t know if that would have been the right decision. We both might die.
In this case, the father made the right choice, his son survived the fall. 9 others, 5 of them children, did not.
That, my friends, is trust.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
It was a busy day in baby land yesterday as 4 new stars joined the Hollywood constellation.
David Allan Grier and Courtney Thorne-Smith had children, but all anyone cared about was Xtina and Nicole.
Nicole Richie had a girl. Harlow Winter Kate Madden. Very cool. I especially like Winter. Mysterious, unique and elegant. Not that freaky Hollywood type of name.
Christina Aguilera had a boy. As of this writing, the name is said to be Kevin Jon Bratman. Sooo .. is it a backhanded dig at Britney or is it just really boring and unimaginative? No offense to any Kevins reading this, but you know you have a boring name. Just remember this jab is from a guy named Buzz.
Cmon, Xtina, this is H-Town. Throw down something unique and special. If it’s gotta be Kevin, at least spell it Kehvinne - or something dorky like that.
Actually, to be fair, despite all her freaky makeup and big fake boobs and unwillingness to look interviewers in the eye, Christina is a sweetheart. Her picking a “regular” name is just part of her character.
Check out the interview I did with her in the spring of 06 as she was getting ready to release Back to Basics.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?.
I like reality tv, I do, but I think the label is spread a little too wide. Stuff like Survivor, Amazing Race, American Idol etc are more Game Show than reality tv.
To me, reality tv is more of a life docudrama. John and Kate Plus Eight, Rich Bride, Poor Bride, Flip That House etc are Reality TV. It’s fun to see how crazy other people can get. It makes me feel better about myself. Lol.
With the writers’ walkout down south, more “reality” tv is being served. Up next on NBC’s schedule is a show that’s quite a propos. The Baby Borrowers.
Yes, hot on the heels of Jamie Lynn Spears getting sperminated at 16, and her sister committing parenting crimes daily, comes a show featuring all those freaky teens you see on Maury. You know the ones who are 14, 15, 17, thinking that being a parent is fun, and babies are cute, and they can’t wait to have them.
It wasnt supposed to debut until the fall, but with the strike it’s been fast tracked to February 18.
This show takes that high school family planning class where you look after a doll or egg for a week and kicks it up a notch. For 3 days they look after infants, then toddlers, then preteens, then teenagers, then … senior citizens. Bam!
Regis and Kelly are having a Beautiful Baby contest. We just saw the promo and there are HUGE prizes. Over $100 grand and a cover shot on a magazine …
Not one to be shy from pimping out my son, I got all excited and then quickly deflated thinking it was probably for US babies only.
Well guess what? It’s not! The rules say Canadian babies are good to go, but the picture has to be taken in the last month. Here are couple of pics Jen took at the beginning of the month .. I had a hard time deciding. Which would you have entered?
#2 is the one I submitted. Deadline for entries is January 11, so we’ll find out in a couple of weeks if Le Grand Monsieur is cute enough!
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
Hmmm .. .let’s see.. what kind of tricks can Zacharie do? He can chew on things, he can roll over (only to his left), he can laugh. That’s about it. Nothing major yet at 7 months of age.
Let’s hope we can get him to do something like this soon.
Jen had a Christmas Girls Night Out this week and so Le Grand Monsieur and I stayed in.
An aside .. I’m not good with babies, I’ll admit that. I’m kinda just waiting until he’s 2 or 3 or 4 or more communicative. I love my son, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t have the patience for his babiness. I’m working on it, so this night was a good practice of my new patience.
Zacharie pretty much fell asleep as soon as Jen left, so I didnt move. I didnt really want to spend the night watching tv, but that’s where I was and I didnt want to risk a waking screaming baby.
A couple hours in, though, and I was hungry since I hadnt had dinner yet and it was just about 8. So I tried to place him down, but he woke up. Fine, I dropped him in the exersaucer while I had a salad and made another bottle for him. When I was done, I picked him up and smelled it.
Woo. Someone needed a change. So a quick change, bottle, bed again and I will have escaped the night - no worries!
But here’s the thing about babies and their diapers. When you scoop up a child and have them sit in the crook of your arm you treat their diaper like a jelly donut - you’re squeezing it right at the bottom. Zacharie must have had a full load, because when I laid him down for a change it was everywhere. Like up to his shoulders everywhere. I didnt just squeeze the donut, I stomped on it, rubbed it in and then stomped on it again.
Now changing a baby with a wet diaper is easy. Whip it off, cover the pee pee with a cloth so there’s no spray, wipe and whip in another one. A blowout to the shoulders is a different story. He wants to kick, so you have to go one handed on the clean up while you hold him still. So off the diaper with one hand, hold him with one hand all the while trying to wipe all the way to his shoulders AND cover the pee pee so there’s no spray.
It wasn’t going so well. I couldnt cover up and he peed all over me. Then it was all over. I had given up. Trying to take his top off over his bottom so I didnt get sh*t all in his face and hair while he was squirming without getting any on me, just wasn’t going to happen.
So I gave up. I was going to get dirty, that’s all there was to it. I stripped him down, dropped him in the tub, stripped myself off, scrubbed him up and the whole while not a scream.
Once I got him rechanged, I fed him his bottle, we cozied up in bed and he fell right asleep again.
Boys night in. Good times.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
I like reality tv, I do, but I think the label is spread a little too wide. Stuff like Survivor, Amazing Race, American Idol etc are more Game Show than reality tv. 
We’re heading to France in March for 2 weeks and we’re taking Zacharie. He’ll be 10 months old then, it will still be an adventure. 
Jen had a Christmas Girls Night Out this week and so 
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