‘Tis the Season – to be wondering what the f*** 2020 was all about

2020 has been the gift that keeps on giving – except you didn’t ask for it and can’t return it because it didn’t come with a receipt.

For a lot of us, Christmas this year will be like no other – but also exactly like every day of the year since March (pyjamas all day, Netflix on repeat, wine at any time and a socially distanced gathering with hand sanitiser for pudding).

But for me and the lucky man in my life, this year hasn’t just been about making Covid related adjustments.

*shoutout to Neil whose colleagues had to listen to me belt out Beyonce in the background of an important Zoom work meeting – unknown to me -so glad they could all witness me not hitting the high notes. You’re welcome*

Before the mayhem of lockdown arrived, we had an arrival of our own – a 1 year old rescue Greyhound called Casper.

It was a big step in our relationship but an even bigger step for our freshly decorated home (which since January has seen oven glove stealing, bed hogging and the ripping down of tinsel I dared to put in the reach of a hound who has a neck like a giraffe).

I knew we’d get on when on his first day I found he’d switched on the TV and was hogging the remote watching Horrid Henry?! (True story).

Greetings after a walk have become an interesting activity too. Once upon a time, my boyfriend and I would welcome each other home with a kiss on the cheek or a ‘did you have a nice time?’ Now it’s all ‘two poos, a lot of wee and a fight with a deli bag full of chicken’.

(To be fair, those were the greetings I gave my parents after I’d been on a night out when I lived at home).

But the highlight of our dog-duties so far have been taking him to dog training classes. Having re-read every page of Greyhounds for Dummies and joined the one million Facebook Greyhound groups, we decided it would benefit us all to go to dog school.

What a treat it was. Not only did Casper lie-down during the ‘play with your toys’ section of the class, he chose to play with his toys during the ‘meet and greet’ part.

We’d been excused from the ‘How-to-Sit’ part of the class as Greyhounds are not known for sitting (due to their stature but also, in Casper’s case, for being downright divas).

Having spent an hour embarrassing ourselves we went home where, on a whim, I told Casper to ‘sit’.

I was surprised when, on command, he sat perfectly.

Could it be that he actually listened during class? Could it be that he decided obeying really is the best way forward.

No. It turns out, he came to us knowing the command ‘sit’ and had been having us on the whole time.

So, 2020 really has been the year that pushed the boundaries of patience. It’s also the year where I’ve wanted to step up to responsibility for the first time in adulthood (as I put on my face mask, head to Tesco and spend my money on dog food).

So, goodbye 2020 – the year of the global pandemic and the Greyhound who yesterday emerged from a bush with a face full of fox poo.

Have a Happy Christmas and a hopefully not so Crappy New Year.