My kid arrived home with a boy I’d never seen before. They snuck upstairs fast. I called out to see who it was, but my son just replied, “A friend!” As I entered the room, I overheard the youngster say, “Your mom shouldn’t know about this.”

I opened the door, alarmed, to find them huddled on the bed with a cardboard box. Inside was a little, wriggling puppy. They admitted that they had found the puppy abandoned in the park and had no idea what to do with it. While I was outraged that they did not come to me first, I couldn’t stay angry. We took the dog to a nearby shelter, and I agreed to volunteer there to help.