A Lion Challenge

Lion wants more punishment. Well, not really. What he wants is more discipline and evidence of my being in charge. I said I would have to manufacture reasons for punishing him. Did he get Final Jeopardy wrong? Swat! Did he forget to record a certain show? Swat! Am I the only one letting the dog out? Swat! Is it raining? Swat! That seems worse to me than not punishing him at all. First of all, if he got whomped when it rains, he’d never be able to sit down again. Second, if punishment is for silly reasons, I might as well stick to my “just because” swats.
I know he’s looking for me to make more decisions and I’m trying. But sometimes I really want his opinion. Should we have pizza or hamburgers tonight? What if either is fine with me? What if I don’t have a strong feeling about either? More likely, what if I don’t care? If he gives me some input, we can move forward. Did he have a burger for lunch and doesn’t want another for dinner? Pizza it is. Has he been thinking about a burger for the past week? Burgers it is. Sometimes he has a really good idea that I hadn’t even thought of. Yesterday we wound up with too many things to eat for dinner. I got some stuff on the way home and he did too. It just happened that mine was time sensitive and his could wait a day.
I do not pay a great deal of attention to details so Lion gets away with things he’d rather I catch. I suppose if I approached things like the puzzles I like to solve, I would be doing a better job. One thing I’ve noticed that makes me crazy is being on time. To me, being on time means being fifteen minutes early. I’d rather wait for someone or something than have them wait for me. Plus, if I’m early then I already have a built in buffer for traffic and any other thing that might get in the way. We’re going to the movies again this weekend at the theater that serves food. Last time we got there a little late and Lion was upset because all the good seats were gone. He has to sit in a particular area of the theater-halfway back, middle of the row. Center, but not front. It bothers him if he’s not in that area. I prefer the aisle. Actually, I prefer movies at home. So my challenge for Lion on Saturday night, is to get to the theater early enough that choosing a seat will not be an issue. Don’t ask me where I’d like to sit if you already know where you don’t want to sit. If it comes down to it, I’ll go sit in the car. That may sound bitchy, but that’s the conversation we had. Want to sit there? OK. Nope, I can’t sit here. How about there? OK. Nope, that’s no good either.
Actually it appears to be two challenges for my pet. Arrive early. Find an acceptable seat. Accomplishing the first one will make the second one easier.