“Are we crazy?” I ask my wife while petting our 7-year-old retrievers.

“Maybe, but it will be totally worth it,” she responds.

It’s been seven years since we had a conversation like this one. After finding out we were expecting our firstborn and buying a house, we decided it would be “totally worth it” to get our two retriever puppies.

People thought we were crazy, but I would prefer the term “calculated.”

I’ve heard it said about puppies and children that there is no perfect time to have them. If you wait for the perfect time, you will probably never have them.

I’ve never heard expecting parents say, “The due date fits my schedule perfectly.” The timing can never be ideal, but the satisfaction is worth it.

I have prolonged getting another dog for a few years now.

Thankfully, some good friends let us play with their puppies whenever they have a litter. It seems to take the edge off the puppy urge.

I tend to only take the family when all the pups are spoken for so that we don’t come home with one. All year long between litters, my kids will ask “Does Mr. Chris have puppies yet?”

When the most recent litter hit the ground a couple months ago, my kids were ecstatic. Bedtime prayers at night had petitions to the Father for a visit with the puppies.

Those prayers were answered one evening, and puppies have been the topic of conversation for the last three weeks.

The day before the puppies went home to their new owners, we went by to play one last time. Watching the kids run around in the grass with puppies following close behind put a smile on everyone’s face.

My smile quickly changed when my friend asked if I wanted to take one home.

“No” came out of my lips instinctively. We would have to be crazy to take a pup home.

My friend has a long history of convincing me to do things I immediately say “no” to, though.

He explained it would only be for a few weeks until it was ready for therapy dog training. My “No” turned into a “maybe,” and by the next day it was an “absolutely.”

With happy kids and a happy wife, we went over to pick up the puppy. We gave the pup one last romp in the creek with its littermates and took him home.

There was a little bit of puppy whining at the house, but the pup substituted his littermates with our children seamlessly.

That evening, sitting on the floor with a tired puppy in my wife’s arms, I say, “We’re crazy!”

The puppy perks up and licks my wife’s nose while she smiles and says, “Yeah, but it’s totally worth it!”