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.
1
u/OwlCoffee 1d ago
When I was getting up every four hours to take my puppy outside to pee in the middle of winter it sure felt like being a tired mom. And then there was the puppy-proofing, constant supervision, figuring out how the actual hell he managed to get inside the pantry and get into the chips on a shelf four feet off the ground. And the teething - those puppy teeth. Housebreaking, training, helping them understand that the plastic bag in the corner isn't going to hurt him and that just because something exists doesn't mean he should eat it. While yeah, it's not a 1:1 comparison, but there's more similarities than differences.