Seattle: Dogs everywhere, kids? Not as many.

According to USA Today, Seattle has nearly 45% more dogs than children. Something you can definitely notice if you take a stroll around basically anywhere in the city. Dogs fully dressed, dogs on strollers, dogs in backpacks, and dogs wearing rain boots. Dogs in my elevator, dogs at brunch, and dogs at the work place of course! I'm totally in with this dog loving frenzy, I wish we could bring our own dog from Peru (pictured above) and join the fun. Sadly, I can barely manage myself and my daughter. Sadder than that is that, Gaston, is one of the worst behaved dogs I've ever seen, a tad aggressive with people he randomly dislikes, still pees everywhere, and if you yell at him, he knows how to give you the silent treatment like a real pro. He needs some legit intervention that I just can't handle right now. Additionally, my dad has warned me numerous times: I'm taking him back over his dead body. Plus, he's a Frenchie and that automatically puts him on a no-fly list in many airlines. Super sad, we miss him, specially in this puppy obsessed city.

It seems pretty clear what people are doing with their dogs here: well, everything. What can I do with my daughter? Not everything, and definitely not send her off to dad's office with him (how great would that be?). This is me pointing out the obvious... having a child is harder than having a dog. I know people with dogs will argue, believe me, I was one of those people. I used to think: "Ugh, but it's possible to take your child anywhere with you, on the other hand, with your dog, you really can't go everywhere and have worry about what to do with them". However, with a child, you don't want to take her everywhere and I can't leave my kid in a crate and run to Whole Foods, even if its only for 20 minutes! A wonderful Target run, usually ends in Victoria screaming her lungs out to get out of the stroller. Then, I end up; baby on one arm, stroller in one hand and no extra hands to hold the shopping basket #thestruggleofparentingisreal. So yes, I can and I'm allowed to take my daughter everywhere, its just very impractical and chaotic if it's not the right place. Therefore, as part of my mission of exploring this city, I've been compiling a list of places that work for parents with babies. Places you actually want to take your kid to.

Another thing about Seattle, well it rains a lot in the winter and that makes things a little more complicated. To be honest, so far, I've had one or two absolutely 'round-the-clock gray, rainy days. But, I got here during summer and winter seemed to be late this year. We'll see how it goes...because winter is here and all I did today was: stay at home, yikes!

As we enter the dark and gray days and I do more research, I'll keep you all posted about what is out there. First stop for next post: Baby Story Time at the Seattle Public Library. I'll give you all the info and my thoughts on it.