I’m balancing my life with kids and dogs while serving my dog Cesar® home delights™ as part of a sponsored series with Socialstars. #CesarHomeDelights

Before I had my kids, my dogs were my kids. Yes, I bought them Halloween costumes and probably spoiled them as much as I do with the kids now. Then I had babies and I’ll admit that the dogs got a little less attention from me for a while. Luckily, with Grambo living with us, she made sure they didn’t feel abandoned. But for a while I had some learning to do. It took me some time to figure out the balance of life with kids and dogs.

Balancing Life with Kids and Dogs

Newborns and dogs are definitely a challenge because a new baby needs all of your attention. And dogs obviously depend on their owners for their basic needs. So during those newborn months I was thankful to have so much help around the house with my husband and Grambo. While I was making sure the baby was fed, they took care of making sure the dogs were fed.

All was well!

But now the kids are older and I’m realizing that I use a lot of the same tactics with both my kids and my dog to make sure our days are good days.

Keeping Them Active

One thing I learned fairly quickly is that keeping them all busy and active is a great way to ensure that we have a pretty good day. It usually means that we might even get a nap time later in the day too!

Well, our sweet pup, Toby, is always willing to take a nap these days. If I can wear both him and the kids out enough so everyone naps, it’s a great day for mom!

Now that Weston is old enough to really play with Toby when we go outside, it’s fun for me to watch as a mom. Mom to both of them, after all. Toby is willing to try and playing catch and fetch. During the early days, Toby was all about just running from Weston. And I can’t blame him. A screaming two-year old chasing after you all the time can get pretty exhausting.

But now they interact a lot more and I even catch them snuggling together sometimes after a busy day playing.

Keeping Them Fed

One of the biggest challenges with young kids and dogs is food. I want to make sure all of my babies get the food that they need. But the kids think it’s a blast to share with Toby. Oh and a certain little girl thinks it would be amazing to try out whatever the dog is having for dinner. Including wet dog food.

So I have learned to keep them all separated while we’re having dinner. Although if I’m completely honest, the dog does eat his fair share of “dropped” food.

Recently, I haven’t had to worry about the kids getting to taste test any of Toby’s food because he’s been enjoying Cesar® home delights™. When I say enjoy, I mean he’s eating his dinner so quickly and cleaning the bowl until there is nothing left to share with anyone. I would say he has been enjoying his own wet dog food these days.

Cesar® home delights™ takes recipes that my family loves for dinner and makes them just for our dog! I have to say that the Cesar® home delights™ pot roast with spring vegetables dinner (one of Toby’s favorites) definitely looks a lot more like something that would come out of our kitchen than other dog food we have tried.

Cesar® home delights™ has meaty chunks with a whole lot of flavor. It makes me feel like I’m feeding him well. Now if only the kids would clean their plates as well as the dog does these days!

So these days I’ve found that by keeping all of my babies active and well-fed, our days go pretty smoothly. I feel like I’ve found a balance where everyone gets my attention and gets everything they need. I’m hoping that it’s a balance that lasts for quite a while but with kids and animals things seem to change on a daily basis! So we’ll just have to see how it all goes!

Cesar® home delights™ became available nationally in stores on April 1^st so make sure to check it out! You can learn more about Cesar® home delights™ by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.

How do you find balance between the kids and your pets?

Disclosure: Photos include Cesar® home delights™ Trademarks of Mars, Incorporated 2015