For Christmas we bought our daughter a giant stuffed tiger, which she absolutely adores.
What we didn’t anticipate is that our 14-year-old hound, Emerson, would compete with our daughter for the tiger’s affection, often napping alongside it with his paw touching — and dwarfed by — the faux feline’s mitt.
Is it sweet to see him express love for the tiger? Yes. But it also instills guilt, as we wonder why we didn’t get him a stuffed friend years ago.