No pets. It was a simple rule that I enforced strictly for the first ten years of my marriage. I knew my capacity and knew that pets were beyond it. Were they cute? Yes. Were they too much work? Also, yes.

Then one day, a friend posted a picture on Instagram of a wrinkly little puppy in a flower pot. We’d just bought a new house with a big yard. I was pregnant with my fifth child and had questionable judgment. It was a perfect storm. I sent the picture to my husband, expecting that he’d say the puppy was cute and then we’d both move on with our lives.

What I didn’t know was that my husband had been quietly waiting to spring a puppy proposal on the family. I’d given him an opening. He messaged me back. “Let’s get him.”

A chaotic puppy helped me learn to accept the beautiful messiness of life.