My husband and I have two teen-aged boys. When our oldest son was 3 years old, we made the decision to home-school him as we were intrigued by the flexibility and travel that it could afford us as he was learning. Long story short is that I home-schooled our older son through 5th grade, as well as our younger son. They flourished and it was the most wonderful bonding experience for us all with man
y beautiful memories! Middle school was an excellent time for them to transition to a school which "fit" our family's academic style and love of diversity. During my younger son's home-schooling years, my husband and I were introduced to a non-profit which trains assistance dogs for children (primarily with severe disabilities) and veterans (with post traumatic stress, as well as disabilities), so our entire family became involved with the organization. I am now a volunteer Client Advocate and help clients with assistance dogs certified by the organization and I use our two certified assistance dogs who are black labs for social therapy and ambassadors. Our younger dog is part of the Breeding Program and will hopefully have puppies which will all become assistance dogs provided at no charge to clients. Volunteering with the non-profit brought a new dimension and realization to my life. I had spent years as a stay at home mother and homeschooling my children, but I wanted to get out in the world and interact with more people and not just stay in my social circle and be part of the "ladies who lunch" circuit. We have always loved animals and currently have both dogs and cats. Their health, happiness, and care is of utmost importance to me. When we moved to an apartment in Buckhead to be closer to school, we were surrounded by others who adored their pets. I realized the need that people had for quality care for their pets while their humans are working and traveling. People would see me at the dog park playing with our dogs. Their dogs would want me to play with me and people began to ask me if I would take their dogs out while they were working. A business was born, Kimberly's Pet Service of Atlanta. Every day, I get to walk and play with dogs, snuggle with cats, and love every minute of it!
