does it drive you crazy when people refer their pets as their kids?

[KimberlyH]

this thread reminded me of something that happened right after my daughter was born. she was very small and so i had to carry her when we went for walks. i had her wrapped up in a blanket and a woman apporoaching started oohing and aahing until she saw what/who i was carrying. she stated she thought it was a puppy then proceeded to tell me that her dog''s labor and delivery was more difficult then mine; for all we know she''s right, my l&d was pretty easy, at least i thought. my mom and i had a great laugh after she moved on.

sharing experiences to show empathy is a wonderful thing. inability to recognize that kids and pets are not the same is another. it''s like apples and oranges, both fruit but different.

and the opinions of people who aren''t parents is sometimes more valuable. observers possess a perspective that can be muddled when you''re in the midst of it.

 

[monarch64]

Date: 6/11/2010 12:24:53 AM
Author: KimberlyH
this thread reminded me of something that happened right after my daughter was born. she was very small and so i had to carry her when we went for walks. i had her wrapped up in a blanket and a woman apporoaching started oohing and aahing until she saw what/who i was carrying. she stated she thought it was a puppy then proceeded to tell me that her dog''s labor and delivery was more difficult then mine; for all we know she''s right, my l&d was pretty easy, at least i thought. my mom and i had a great laugh after she moved on.


sharing experiences to show empathy is a wonderful thing. inability to recognize that kids and pets are not the same is another. it''s like apples and oranges, both fruit but different.


and the opinions of people who aren''t parents is sometimes more valuable. observers possess a perspective that can be muddled when you''re in the midst of it.

We are of the same mind on this one, Kim. <3

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 6/10/2010 4:01:02 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 6/10/2010 3:15:49 PM
Author: Mara
nope it doesn''t bother me in the least. sure raising a human kid is different in many ways, but in no way should anyone who has a pet and considers it their ''kid'' be considered less of a relationship because it doesn''t have human dna.

i actually don''t get why some people get irritated when others compare aspects of pet rearing to child rearing. there are MANY comparisons in bringing up a puppy and how it can relate to baby raising. in fact i prob am a better mother because i had a puppy originally...you learn a lot of things like patience, how to deal with uncontrollable diaharrea or nighttime screaming, stuff i would have been ENTIRELY unprepared for before. some methods you employ are even the same from puppy to baby... positive reinforcement, consistency, presenting calm, etc.

it''s ironic though because i view my dog differently than before. i love her, she still sleeps with us, gets fed properly, walks, etc etc but she''s not the same as my human child. however, i call her ''sister'' to the baby and Greg is actually the one that takes offense to this. i really don''t get WHY though.

as for people who try to give advice not being parents, it doesn''t annoy me...helpful is helpful if that is what they are trying to be. BUT if they start going ''well this is obviously what you SHOULD do'', not being parents ...yeah that would annoy me.

A sign of a potentially good parent is a pet owner with a well behaved dog. I haven''t had a dog in ages (love them though) but my brother is a huge dog lover. His dogs are truly well trained, and I actually learned a bit about child rearing from him how he interacted with the dogs.

I insult some people by saying this, I know, but in the very early stages of infancy, a baby isn''t that much different from a dog. Yes, cognitively the baby outpaces the dog very quickly, but in those early early stages, behavioral techniques that work for the dog also can work for the baby. Conditioning...I''m a firm believer.

I actually have a theory of child development along these lines. There is the houseplant phase (0-3mo), followed by the dog phase (3mo - 10mo), then monkey (10mo - ??), then finally person

Hunter is in the Monkey phase. It was a big deal one day when we looked at each other and said, "He is smarter than the dog now!" I think we hid something and he knew where it was and still wanted it. Then we knew we were in real trouble.

I actually think raising our dog was very good practice for us for parenting. We did learn a lot that came in handy. And once the dog was 4 years old and finally completely well behaved and the dream dog in every way, we knew it was a good time to have a kid.

 

[Dreamer_D]

This thread reminds me of a funny story.

When Hunter was an infant I used to go for long walks every day to avoid going mental in the house alone all day

and I would put Hunter in the carrier and then I would have the two miniature long-haired dachshunds on a double leash. There is nothing cuter than two mini-long-haired dachshunds on a leash, let me tell you. And there is nothing cuter than a blond, blue eyed, smiling four month old in a carrier!

When I went walking I got stopped at least twice in every trip... and when I saw the person approaching with the "Awwwww!" look on their face I would make a little bet with myself about who they were going to comment on -- the baby or the dogs! Somehow it was never both, always one or the other

Some people would google over the dogs for 5 minutes then as they were leaving say, "Oh, and such a lovely baby!" and others would coo over the baby for five minutes and then as they walked off say, "Oh, and such cute dogs too!"

 

[yssie]

Date: 6/11/2010 12:37:18 AM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 6/10/2010 4:01:02 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 6/10/2010 3:15:49 PM
Author: Mara
nope it doesn't bother me in the least. sure raising a human kid is different in many ways, but in no way should anyone who has a pet and considers it their 'kid' be considered less of a relationship because it doesn't have human dna.

i actually don't get why some people get irritated when others compare aspects of pet rearing to child rearing. there are MANY comparisons in bringing up a puppy and how it can relate to baby raising. in fact i prob am a better mother because i had a puppy originally...you learn a lot of things like patience, how to deal with uncontrollable diaharrea or nighttime screaming, stuff i would have been ENTIRELY unprepared for before. some methods you employ are even the same from puppy to baby... positive reinforcement, consistency, presenting calm, etc.

it's ironic though because i view my dog differently than before. i love her, she still sleeps with us, gets fed properly, walks, etc etc but she's not the same as my human child. however, i call her 'sister' to the baby and Greg is actually the one that takes offense to this. i really don't get WHY though.

as for people who try to give advice not being parents, it doesn't annoy me...helpful is helpful if that is what they are trying to be. BUT if they start going 'well this is obviously what you SHOULD do', not being parents ...yeah that would annoy me.

A sign of a potentially good parent is a pet owner with a well behaved dog. I haven't had a dog in ages (love them though) but my brother is a huge dog lover. His dogs are truly well trained, and I actually learned a bit about child rearing from him how he interacted with the dogs.

I insult some people by saying this, I know, but in the very early stages of infancy, a baby isn't that much different from a dog. Yes, cognitively the baby outpaces the dog very quickly, but in those early early stages, behavioral techniques that work for the dog also can work for the baby. Conditioning...I'm a firm believer.

I actually have a theory of child development along these lines. There is the houseplant phase (0-3mo), followed by the dog phase (3mo - 10mo), then monkey (10mo - ??), then finally person

Hunter is in the Monkey phase. It was a big deal one day when we looked at each other and said, 'He is smarter than the dog now!' I think we hid something and he knew where it was and still wanted it. Then we knew we were in real trouble.

I actually think raising our dog was very good practice for us for parenting. We did learn a lot that came in handy. And once the dog was 4 years old and finally completely well behaved and the dream dog in every way, we knew it was a good time to have a kid.

Oh, dreamer

houseplant?!


You and tgal have such refreshingly good humour about so many things, really

 

[that_someone_special]

Lol I''m dying... Houseplant phase--- that poops!!!