Luna

Madeleine brought home a stone from the Mediterranean Sea, which I thought was going to simply be a souvenir.  Not so, however.  Madeleine decided that Luna is her pet rock, which in itself is even more complicated that it sounds.  Luna is a pet rock but she's ALSO a pet dog, a stand-in for the real dog that Madeleine is convinced I'm going to let her get after I see how well she takes care of Luna.  Madeleine regularly takes Luna out, which consists of either taking the rock outside, putting it down on the lawn, picking it up, and bringing it back inside, OR putting the rock on a paper towel, thus wasting a paper towel.  Madeleine also feeds Luna, taking a handful of some of our human food, putting it up to the rock, then asking the rest of the household if anyone would like to eat the food.  We even took Luna on a walk with us, which resulted in this situation, in which we crossed paths with two different neighbors, each with dogs.

DOGS: (barking wildly at each other)
MADELEINE: Aww, the doggies are barking.  I think they realize that Luna's a doggie, too.

Madeleine is convinced that her plan will work; she will be SO responsible with Luna that I will allow her to get a dog. 

First of all, I don't think she realizes that a rock is a TOTALLY different situation than a dog.  When Luna goes outside, she DOESN'T PEE OR POOP.  There is NOTHING to clean up.  Secondly, I have ALREADY been asked to take on some of Madeleine's Luna responsibilities, and this is a ROCK.

ME: Okay, honey, you gotta leave for your play-date.
MADELEINE: Okay.  Wait.  Mommy.  While I'm gone, can you, like, just put Luna on a paper towel, and put a few balls of paper down to clean up?

I didn't do it.

Anyway, I guess it's time to introduce you to our newest pet.  Here is Luna, the rock dog:

If anyone is interested in pet sitting, let us know!