Kate Phillips: Why a Christmas surprise left me eating my words and looking after a new puppy

It’s time to eat my words.

A month before Christmas my husband took me to dinner, bought me more than one whiskey, and asked (for the one million and tenth time) to get another dog. And, after resisting for the past 10 years I finally relented.

This came as a huge surprise to both of us.

Especially after I dedicated an entire column in 2022 to the reasons why it would never happen.

“I keep telling them they’ve got Buckley’s,” I wrote at the time.

“That the last thing our 13-year-old dog Pickle needs is a new friend, and I’m onto their ridiculous con job.”

Lo and behold, just over a year later, Pickle (who’s now 14) has an eight-week-old Golden Retriever friend called Norman.

We surprised the kids — and Pickle — with Norman on Christmas Eve.

And boy were they surprised.

My daughter started crying, my son was speechless — and Pickle was crushed.

But they assured me it was the best Christmas present ever.

And I agree, it was.

But the thing is, Norman’s not just a present, he’s for life.

I tried to impress this on my kids and reminded them he was their responsibility for the next 15 years.

They didn’t flinch and promised to take total care of him.

And they did. For at least 48 hours.

Which is why I’m currently typing with a golden ball of fluff sitting on my lap, filled love and regret and consoling myself with the fact that at least words (unlike Christmas pudding) are calorie free.