When my husband died, he left a widow, me, a 7 year old daughter and a puppy, called Jack.
One of the main reasons why it is generally a good idea for 2 adults to be involved in bringing up a child is that 1 adult and 1 child means there is no majority. It is 1 v 1 when there is challenging behaviour to address or guidance to be provided.
In our case there were also no sage grandparents on hand to step with timely support and a valid, experienced perspective
How did we resolve disputes?
We asked the dog.
Jack had his own voice created for him and definitely had his own distinct views! When I spoke in Jack’s voice my daughter listened. I was conscious of never making Jack a mouthpiece for my views, I would have been rumbled immediately. Instead, sometimes Jack took my side and sometimes he supported my daughter.
Sounds a bit bizarre, but it did work, mostly and I tried to make sure Jack only took my side if it was a very important argument I felt I needed to win and I made sure he was always very fair in his assessment of the pros and cons…
Creating a whole, distinct personality for dear Jack, sadly now departed, helped us so much and also became the inspiration for my writing.
None of my characters are really like Jack, there can only ever be 1 Jack, but I hope my writing reflects the years of trying to think, basically like a dog!