Coco At Play
As I am making my summer vacation plans, I happened upon a television commercial for Home Away, a vacation rental service. Actually, it was two commercials: one tells the story of Emma, a little girl who cannot enjoy her family vacation as her dog was left behind. The other tells the story of Biscuit, Emma’s dog who goes to great lengths to be reunited with her on vacation. It is a cute story and illustrates the dilemma that vacationing adults experience, too: it is hard to enjoy your vacation when you are worried about your pet. And the commercial really resonated with me, bringing back my favorite childhood vacation memory.
I didn’t actually go anywhere, I stayed home and someone joined us, a girl named Margot, who lived in the Bronx and spent two weeks with us as part of the Fresh Air Fund program. It was a great stay-cation for me, as I not only made a new friend, but my parents went all out for us, as we went to the beaches, to the amusement park and to Gray’s Ice Cream, played badminton in the backyard and Monopoly and other board games inside at night, and all the fun activities that define summer. But, for Margo, she most enjoyed playing fetch with our family dog, as her family did not have a pet. Now that I have one – actually, two, it is a consideration in vacation planning. It is just more fun when they are around.
So I am planning a week at the home of a friend with a swimming pool. Coco (shown here, as she usually is, with a ball in her mouth and another toy close by) and Henry will be on vacation with me, too. But for those times when you cannot take the pets with you, or you are on a business trip, advance planning for the pet sitter will let you rest easy that your pets are well cared for and you can enjoy some long overdue R&R – another example of how preparing for a disruption (like if someone else is unexpectedly called upon to care for your pet) makes everyday life run more smoothly.