DIY Mom Muse: SQUIRRELLLLLL!!!

I just had the chance to play our family's favorite game for the first time this season. I was in the basement folding laundry, when I looked up to see the newly filled bird feeders hanging in the box elder tree in the middle of our backyard. (DIY Dad had recently put them out, and already we were enjoying seeing blue jays, red-headed woodpeckers, and chickadees flocking in.) However, today there wasn't a bird in sight.

That's when I saw HIM. Bushy-tailed hog. "GAME ON," I thought.

Here are the rules to the new sensation SQUIRRELLLLL!!: THE GAME

1. Locate family dogs (hyper hunting dogs like labs and springers are excellent choices).
2. Convey quiet excitement while you get them to the door without barking.
3. Simultaneously open door and bellow SQUIRRELLLLL!!! at top of voice. (Ignore neighbors' strange looks.)
4. Sit back and watch the show.

While the object of the SQUIRRELLLLL!!: THE GAME is to catch the bushy-tailed bird-feeder hog, this has, in fact, never happened. However, this does not in any way impede the overall enjoyment of this exhilarating game.

TOP FIVE REASONS WHY I LOVE PLAYING SQUIRRELLLLL!!: THE GAME AND YOU WILL TOO:

1. It never fails to scare the living bejesus out of the squirrel.
2. When you're a dog and have no long-term memory, every time you play is like the first time.
3. SQUIRRELLLLL!!: THE GAME provides top-notch pet exercise.
4. SQUIRRELLLLL!!: THE GAME  also provides outstanding human stress relief (the reliable scream-your-lungs-out-followed-by-laughter method).
5. SQUIRRELLLLL!!: THE GAME doesn't cost a thing.