I’ve NEVER been a dog person. My grandmother’s next door neighbor gave me a pitbull when I was 10 (he used to bred & fight pits) but someone stole him off her back porch and ever since then, I haven’t rocked with dogs. Then one day I’m home watching TV and this ASPCA commercial came on and I asked Tanya “how did they get that Puss ‘n Boots effect on the dogs eyes like that?” And she’s like “you mean, like they’re sad?!?!? I’m like “yeah.” And she tells me, “well…they are sad!” And I’m like “dogs have feelings?” And from that point forward, I’ve been a dog person. Naomi had been buggin’ me about getting her a dog for YEARS but I wasn’t having it…’til now.

So, 2 weeks after seeing that commercial, we had a 6 month old Yorkie (pure bred…I don’t play that mixture stuff) named Boots…who has become my partner in crime. This dude is ALWAYS with me! It’s to the point that when I get a new CD and I wanna ride with it… blasting it with the windows down, Boots is (9 times outta 10) with me. In a nutshell, Boots is my dude. And the most amazing thing to me about Boots is when I come home from work, this dog is running down the steps and breaking his freaking neck to get to me! He’s jumping on me, licking me acting like he hasn’t seen me in weeks. When in reality, he just saw me 8 hours ago. And we, as husbands and wives, should treat our spouses like that when they come home from work.

One of my first beefs when Tee and I first got married, was when I would come home from work (I would get home about a hour later than she would) and she would be on the phone and she would just keep talking. And I’d be like “Yo, your husband just got home from work.  I need you to get off the phone and show me some love.” I don’t even think she had a beef with getting off of the phone. I just don’t think she realized it was that important to me. I’ve even had to teach Naomi the same thing, that when Daddy comes home from work, you stop WHATEVER you’re doing and come give me a hug.

It’s to the point in our house that whenever someone comes in the door it’s almost a foot race to get to the person to greet them. And then, they gotta fight through 2 people and a dog hugging, kissing and licking you (the dog does the licking) to welcome them home. And I’m not sure if a lot of people realize how important that can be to their spouse (both husbands and wives.)

I LOVE coming home from work, a video shoot, studio session, etc. cause I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that I’m gonna be greeted with love from my entire family.

But I know a lot of husbands and wives who NEVER feel loved when they come home, while they’re home, when they leave the crib, etc. and that’s a problem. THIS is why some husbands and wives dread coming home and they end up working late, going to happy hour with their crew, going to watch the game at sports bars or they just take Jay Z’s advice and start acting like an adult and start having an affair with someone who makes them feel loved.

So my challenge for all of the husbands and wives out there this week (yeah, I’ll be challenging ya’ll AND myself every week) is very simple, when your significant other comes home, stop what you doing and greet ‘em, kiss ‘em, hug ‘em and make sure without a shadow of a doubt that they feel loved like my crew does for me everyday.