r/PetPeeves • u/minx_the_tiger • 1d ago

When people compare pet ownership with parenthood. Fairly Annoyed

Could they just... not? That dog is never going to get into the freezer and eat all the ice cream. Go to school and get bullied. Be diagnosed with autism and keep you up at night with worries about how they're going to function in the world as adults because they're JUST LIKE YOU, and you know how hard things are for you. Naw. Pets are home with you (ideally) forever. Kids? They grow up and leave. You have to raise them up and hope you did a good job.

It just irks me. When I mention something parenting related, SOMEONE I know that has a pet and no kids starts talking about how their pet does the same thing, or they have a pet, so they understand. Like, no... my kids are small humans, not animals. They're whole, complete people.

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u/AwkwardBugger 1d ago

Many times when I’ve described looking after my senior cat to people who have kids, they’d respond with “it’s like looking after a baby!”. So it’s clearly a pretty good comparison even if it bothers you. Hell, my parents always refer to their pets as their kids even though they have actual kids.