Paddington: The World's Fiercest Watchdog

Today when Riley and I arrived home, I gave her instructions to let the dog out.  It must be noted that Riley is not capable of following simple instructions.  So, she did not simply open the door and allow Paddington to go outside and do his thing.  Oh no, she accompanied him.  Upon venturing outside, she found that the recent winds had done this to the "grown-up swing" in our back yard:

You will notice that the canopy is not supposed to droop forward as in the photo.  So my 5 year old daughter took it upon herself to try to rectify the situation (while the dog was relieving himself, of course).  Once she determined that it was a hopeless cause, she returned inside.

It was at this point that she reported to me.  You know, mom.  The adult.  The one who was attempting to be productive.  And so the moment we arrived home, I didn't even head upstairs.  Rather, I went straight into the laundry room to get things moving along in there while my daughter was allegedly just letting the dog out.

She finds me in the basement moving wet clothes into the dryer and she urgently reports the status of the swing canopy, and I tell her I'll take a look when I'm finished with the clothes.  A couple minutes later, when I finally make my way up the stairs this is what I find:

Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention that my child was outside without adult supervision?  But it was okay.  Paddington was with her. (!!!)

I made her come back inside, I freaked out, then we had a little heart to heart about not going outside without an adult.  When I asked her how she thought Paddington would have protected her had she found herself in a situation where a kidnapper was in our (unfenced) yard, she simply said, "He would have bitten him."

This is Paddington.  The dog who has been in our family for almost 8 years, but still goes into hiding every time we have company:

Yeah, he's gonna keep someone from kidnapping a child...



(Qualifying statement:  We don't allow our children to go outside without adult supervision.  Riley took this opportunity upon herself and she was issued both a lecture and a consequence for today's little adventure sans Mommy.  So, if you were feeling the need to alert the authorities, don't bother.  2nd Qualifying statement:  None of these photos were taken during the unfolding of the aforementioned incident.  I took them later, when I was able to see the humor in it.)