Our kids are away at college and my husband and I certainly miss them, but not as much as you might think. Luckily we have someone else to praise, scold, cuddle and fawn over in their absence. Someone who has, in effect, replaced our children: Our dog, Otis.

Don’t get me wrong; Otis never suffered from lack of attention. He has been showered with love and affection since the day he arrived almost 13 years ago. But something has changed in our family dynamic now that our nest is empty. Apparently we are not quite finished being parents. Our nurturing roles are so ingrained that we automatically focus on our dog.

With the kids out of the picture most of the time, there’s nothing Otis does that escapes our scrutiny and delight.  We gang pet him while he is trying to take a nap, sing to him at odd moments, and worry over his every misstep. We gaze adoringly at him as he snores on one of his four dog beds – two are orthopedic because he has arthritis – and tell each other over and over how cute he is. Instead of tucking in the kids, I now find my husband crouched in front of Otis at night to give him one last pat on his sweet furry head.

Is it weird that we took more photos of Otis while on vacation at the beach than we do of our kids?  Probably. But Otis doesn’t seem to mind and our kids are probably relieved to escape our clutches. It’s a win-win…at least until they come home on break.