Boys Behaving Badly

Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Third Degree of Truth.

Sometimes boys behave a certain way. It doesn’t matter how nice we are to them.

They run from us, whether out of habit or fear of being penned in. You offer an outstretched  hand and they scamper off in the other direction as fast as they can go.

You’re left  wondering  why.  Last  time  they  nuzzled your hand and licked your toes. There seems to be no possible explanation for this change in behavior.

Amid polite dinner conversation,  my almost-14-year-old daughter tells her older sister and me how much she loves playing  with  the  puppy.  “And  you  know  what’s really fun?” she says. “Just before I put him in his pen, I chase him around the house, waving my arms and yelling at him. He runs everywhere. He loves it!”

“Aislinn!” her sister admonishes. “You’re just teaching him to run away, so when we try to put him in his pen, we can’t catch him!”

Which explains why I spent an extra 40 minutes this morning running around the house in my underwear, trying  to  catch  a  terrier  who  is  thoroughly  enjoying  the chase.


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