Living in the chaotic calm

Staying true to the name of my column, I will continue to give you a Bit of Burgos life experiences. I’ve been approached by loyal readers of the Pilipino Expressand they commented that they love to read about the zany events that are my life. They love to see what trouble the Burgos Boys are up to and like to ask how my wife, Lizabeth, handles living with 6 boys (for those of you counting – there are 5 under the age of 16 and one 34 year-old –me).

Quite frankly, I personally don’t know how she handles all that testosterone under one roof. There are some days when I wish we had a little girl to offset the Alpha Male mentality in my house. I would think a little girl would be able to corral the boys and perhaps have them play house or drink tea. But alas, we must make due without a little princess.

I will however share with you the latest in gossip. Our youngest boy, Camden, has expressed that he would like to visit his cousins Kiana and Tyra. It is the first thing he says when waking up and the last before he falls asleep. Last week, we went for a quick visit to my niece’s house. And the first thing that Camden does is raid their dressup box of princess dresses and chooses to wear a pretty pink and blue number. The first thought is that it is very cute, since he chooses to wear the matching glass slippers. He also would not let go of their Barbie.

“It’s a phase,” says my wife. I did shake my head in agreement, since I too played with my older sister’s Barbies when I was his age. And I turned out fine!

Our latest adventure was a trip to Wal-Mart in hopes of purchasing a Barbie of his own. Thankfully he was detoured by a Dora the Explorer kite. I will apologize to him now, since I will show this column to him in the distant future, and I am quite sure he will not be impressed. However since he is only four years old, I think I can get away with it. Love ya kiddo!

Topic #2. Lizabeth has been hounding me for a loooong time about getting a puppy. There were a few reasons why I have been so hesitant. #1: I am allergic to cats and some dogs, so it had to be a hypo-allergenic variety and, #2: All the kids are potty trained now, why would I want to start that process again?

You might as well paint the word “sucker” in big bold letters on my head. Three weeks ago, we were perusing the online classifieds for people giving away puppies. Lo and behold, we find someone who just had a litter of Shitzu-Chihuahua crosses.

“Perfect for a number of reasons,” says my wife whilst giving me (pardon the pun) puppy dog eyes. “Both these breeds are non-allergenic and there is the potential that they stay very small and cute.”

I reluctantly agree to go look at the puppies, knowing full well that I will quickly fall in love with one of the furry creatures. I also knew that the kids will quickly get bored of the fur ball and I would be stuck caring for it.

Sure enough, we get to the house and find the cutest pooches ever created on the planet Earth. We eventually eyed the energetic boy who looks more Chihuahua than Shitzu. He was the first to want to play and the only one who was more interested in Lizabeth and I. The rest were too busy napping.

That very night we welcomed Stone Burgos to the family. We laid him next to our guinea pig, Charlie Brown, and they instantly became buddies, after all, they are the same size!

A few weeks have passed and the allure of having a puppy has not faded with the Burgos Boys. It’s fun to watch them play together. It figures the puppy we chose was a boy. Although it hasn’t stopped Camden from dressing him up.

Oh boy.

Dale Burgos manages the communications department for a Winnipeg school division.

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