>The Pounder

>“Mommy,” Punky said hesitantly as I tucked her into bed one evening. “I’m going to use a word I’m not supposed to use, but I think it’s okay because I really, really mean it! Can I?”

“That depends on what the word is,” I said nervously. “What do you want to say?”

“Well, I know I’m not supposed to hate anybody,’” she said. She paused. “But I really hate the Pounder,” She looked at me, expecting a response, but I was at a loss for words.

“The Pounder?” I asked after a moment.

“Yes!” she said.

“What’s the Pounder?”

“Amy told me about the Pounder,” she said. “The Pounder takes away your dog if you lose it and he puts it in a cage. And then he kills it.” She crossed her arms. “I really hate the Pounder.”

“Oh, Punky,” I said. “It’s not that simple. I know the people at the pound and they love animals, and they try to find homes for lost dogs and cats. But there are so many of them that they can’t find homes for all of them.”

Punky frowned and remained silent. “I still hate the Pounder,” she said.

I sighed. “Okay, honey,” I said. It had been a long day. “Good night.”

Ever since then, the Pounder has come up every couple of weeks. As far as Punky is concerned, the Pounder is the epitome of evil, the human equivalent of Satan himself, and no amount of discussion is going to sway her. I haven’t said much about it one way or the other because Punky loves dogs almost as much as she loves her family, and I don’t really want to get into the subject of euthanasia (although she’s already something of an expert on the topic).

But Hubs got the ultimate Pounder experience over the weekend when he took the kids to see The Karate Kid at the drive-in movie theater. At one point, one of the characters kept saying, “I’m going to kick his ass,” (which, by the way, annoys me to no end– Is it REALLY necessary to kick ass in a family-friendly movie?) and the Mr. Miyagi equivalent says, “Do not say ass in my studio!”

“What’s ass?” Punky asked Hubs.

“It’s a bad word,” he said.

“Oh,” she said. She thought for a moment and then said passionately, “I want to kick the Pounder’s ass.”

Yet another dilemma I can’t find anywhere in the parenting advice books…