To the manor born.

"It's a dog's life" - often said with derision, as if it's bad, lowly or downright shitty. This pundit would therefore have no meaning for our Mr Bean - zero, zilch.  Rather, if the truth be known Mr Bean has a life of sheer indulgence, decadence and unimaginable luxury. I would sooner go without to ensure Mr Bean has that outfit that "he simply must have because this is so Bean". In fact, the non-existence budget gets shifted and shafted so that Bean gets fed only the best puppy food, rests his lovely head in a crib fit for a prince and has enough toys to ward off boredom. Why? Because that's what the vet said and my countless research on pugs has recommended. Remarkably, my husband has bought into this madness.  This from a man who is usually strong-willed and not easily swayed by that he deems fickle or frivolous. But Bean is our proverbial "laat lametjie".  You know, that one that comes late in life and rather unexpectantly takes up a big portion of your heart, and before you know it good reason flies out the window and you find yourself doing things that you would not ordinarily do. In our defense, I can however say that Mr Bean is the beneficiary of the unadulterated attention and time our earlier years of parenting did not allow.  Where those earlier times were taken up with trying hard not to kill our two elder kids with newly learned, yet dubious parenting skills, stressful and exhausting jobs and a myriad of activities that kept us on the merry-go-round of our life back then; we're now more restful and able to give our youngest more of ourselves.  Youngest? Of course, Bean is our youngest child. I look into those soulful, bulbous eyes and see a remarkable resemblance to his dad. Not to mention some of the familial quirks and characteristics - he snores just like his father, has a wicked sense of humour like his mom, farts up a storm like his brother and is quick to affection like his sister.  Yep, Mr Bean is definitely part of the Royal Raisin Clan and like anyone of regal bearing will know, he is without question 'to the manor born'.