I have come in contact with more pee in the last 48 hours than anyone should ever have to encounter outside of a biohazard suit. I’ve stepped in it repeatedly, cleaned it off the carpet at least half a dozen times and transported clothing and bedding that were sopping with it. This is dad life.

Actually, my life was filled with very few involuntary urine encounters until recently. About a month ago we got a puppy. And curiously, around that same time, my potty-trained three-year-old started regressing and having accidents of her own. I’m beginning to think she’s conspiring with the dog against me.

This weekend, my wife (Jody) left me at home with our two kids and our Golden Retriever for a day and a half while she went to a conference. Jody had certainly earned some time away, and I was glad to give her a break from motherhood, if only a brief one. She works part time and then comes home to a full-time job serving the needs of a three-year-old, an eight-year-old, yours truly and now a puppy.

Puppies are awesome until you own one. I had forgotten how much I really don’t like having a puppy in my house until this last month.

Our last dog passed away back in November, and I had intended on taking a hiatus from being a dog owner. But that break only lasted about two months before the high-pressure sales pitches from the rest of my household started.

I made the mistake of showing the slightest crack in my anti-dog stance, and now my hiatus is over. It’s funny how I can say no to an army of Kirby vacuum cleaner salesmen, but my wife and kids can break me so easily.

At least I was allowed to name the dog, so there is still some illusion of power there. Now we have the most awesomely-named dog on the block – Chewbacca!

We call him Chewy for short, and he lives up to his name. He chews on everything in his path, including my kids. The chewing drives me even crazier than dealing with the potty messes. At least the urine can be cleaned up, mostly. Puppy teeth marks are more permanent. And with every bite mark, I see visions of dollar bills being tossed into a fire.

That is how my mind works. I have a tendency to oversimplify things and to see the negative more than the positive. And after a day and a half of seeing things around our house getting chewed or peed on, I painted a gloomy picture in my mind.

I envisioned our savings account dwindling to nil as we replaced furniture and flooring. I imagined a world where I would encounter dog or kid urine for the rest of my days. And frankly between my anxiety and fatigue, I lost my cool more than I care to admit during this time.

By the time my wife returned from her trip, she had to talk me down off the ledge. That’s one of the many things I love about her. When I let worries snowball in my mind, she gently brings me back to reality. When I get consumed with money and stuff, she reminds me that life isn’t about money or stuff.

Jody keeps me pointed towards the things that matter most in my life. My relationship with my kids ranks near the top of that list, and it is for our children that we got this puppy in the first place. My kids absolutely love Chewy, and truth be told, I do too. I have to learn to take the bad with the good and remember that into each life, some pee must fall.