What are pets for?
All modern domestic animals are descended from wild ancestors. People tamed them for a specific purpose: for meat, milk, wool, fluff, used as a vehicle, for protection, etc. Now many of the pets do not bring any material benefit (mongrel cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, parrots, aquarium fish, domestic mice and rats), but people still bring them into their homes. For what purpose?
Animal lovers enjoy the presence of a living creature nearby. They are interested in playing with their pets and observing their behavior. The pet helps its owner to calm down - one has only to pet his furry friend and look into his devoted eyes, and all problems fade into the background. Dog owners spend a lot of time outside; the dog needs to be walked at least twice a day. On walks, they communicate with other owners, make new acquaintances, and sometimes find their soulmate who shares their views.
The owners of the remaining pets communicate on various forums and clubs. Also, furry and feathered friends raise children in a way. With their help, the child becomes a little closer to nature, learns to take care of a weaker creature, and learns the basics of acceptable boundaries when communicating. The dog can accompany you and the children on walks in the evening.
However, the term “pets” refers not only to dogs or cats, but also to pets that provide material benefit. People living in villages keep chickens, cows, goats, geese, pigs, and sheep. From them the owners receive milk, wool, meat, eggs, and fluff. However, even such unusual pets for city residents can be pets for their owners and their children. It is believed that pet owners live longer and experience loneliness less often.
Care and responsibility make a person’s life organized and prevent him from being lazy. A very significant case was when a lonely woman dying of cancer rose from her deathbed, feeling sorry for her cats begging for food. Then she told the surprised doctors that, having fed the pets, she decided to clean up after them, and as a result, she got busy and decided to wait until death. This case is probably not isolated - animals react sensitively to the mood and state of health of their beloved owner.
Not everyone has the means or opportunity to have a pet: these could be financial or housing problems, or allergies. But if there is such an opportunity, you should get yourself a devoted creature - it will give you a lot of positive emotions.
Who wants red hair? Why parents don't want to have a pet
- Do you need a kitten?
- What? Kitty? Oh, No! - Kolka’s alarmed mother from the 5th entrance decided to move away from this strange lover of everything that runs, crawls and flies.
“Let’s go, Slavik,” the little old lady straightened her hat with red poppies and calmly walked away. A rosy-cheeked, cheerful boy of about six years old trudged behind her. Carefully squeezing the squeaking ball of red fur.
It is sad to witness such scenes. But it happens. One mother pulls her child by the hand from the playground:
- Dont touch him! He's flea-ridden!
Another in the parent WhatsApp group is trying to place the animal in good hands. Explaining this by fatigue and reluctance to listen to all these meow-woofs in the evenings.
And you hear the third mother calling:
- Nikita! Throw that turtle away now! Where did you get it?
You involuntarily remember Uncle Fyodor’s mother from the famous Soviet cartoon. She didn't want her son to have a pet either. Kota. To start.
Questions inevitably arise: is it really that scary to have a pet? And how to help parents who are not going to get this very pet, but the child really asks? Let's figure it out.
The reasons why parents do not want or cannot have a pet are very different.
1. “I don’t have time for another mentee.”
In our daily life, everything is clearly scheduled and planned. This is the only way, and it is undesirable to do otherwise. But if a child asks for a pet, maybe reconsider your priorities? Maybe instead of watching another episode of another series, you should go for a walk with your child and puppy? To the nearest park? Or just go outside. Do it! Your bonus will be a good mood, rosy cheeks and the child’s gratitude. And also his complete and unlimited trust. Isn't it great?
In reality, caring for pets doesn't take that much time. We invent some obstacles for ourselves.
2. “I don't like cats. But my daughter is asking for a kitten.”
Here I will answer this way: discuss alternative solutions with your child. Invite him to start something small first. A hamster, for example. Or a turtle. As an option. Explain to your child that this is a big responsibility. That you trust him. Just want to watch exactly how he will feed your pet? What name will you come up with for him? How will you tell him bedtime stories? And what?
But with promises to later get exactly the pet that the child wants, you need to be very careful. Because if you make such a decision, you will have to carry it out.
A child who dreams of a kitten can be advised to give his mother the book “A Street Cat Named Bob” by James Bowen for the New Year. Once you fall in love, it is impossible to remain indifferent. Let mom add punctuation marks after reading the book.
3. “I'm worried about what to do with unpleasant odors? After all, pets are living beings.”
You, dear parents, will have to explain to your child that the pet, of course, is his. But no one canceled his care. And it is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the cage, if a hamster has settled there, or in the terrarium, if you have a turtle. Vital. First of all, for the animal itself. And since the child has chosen such a friend, he will worry about his health.
Alternatively, you and your child can create a schedule for cleaning the cage. Paint it with bright colors and hang it in a visible place. Then the baby himself will check: did he do everything on time? How does his ward feel there?
If you take care of the cleanliness of the cage, aquarium or tray in a timely manner, then such questions should not arise. Or very rarely.
Parents have doubts. This is fine. Because they understand: having an animal is a huge responsibility. You will have to set aside time for this. Feed and bathe the animal. Treat if necessary. And they are sick! Even fish.
But on the other hand, if you turn off reason and logic. For a while. And become a child. Like a son or daughter. Remember yourself as a child. Wander down the quiet streets of memory. Meet that red cat there that you fed in the school yard. Or that dog whose paw you poured green into. Because there was a wound there and the dog was limping. Surely this was the case? It can't be that it didn't happen. Do you see?
Parents who seem to want to get a dog, but are still thinking about it, can be advised to watch the legendary film directed by Lasse Hallström. Can you guess which one? Yes, yes, get your handkerchiefs ready! And more! Because a charming dog named Hachiko will make you experience truly extraordinary feelings.
Do you really still have any doubts after watching such films? Then Beethoven will help you! Also a movie. Also about friendship between man and dog.
It's still worth getting an animal. If only because psychologists, psychotherapists, sources of good mood and enormous devoted unselfish love come to the house with him. Together with him, our children learn to love and care for someone tiny. They become sensitive and kind. In relation to living beings. And to this world.
Think, weigh all the pros and cons in favor of a particular living creature. And choose yours. Even if it is not on the list of common pets. Nikolai Drozdov, the host of the TV show “In the Animal World,” said this wonderfully: “Look at the toad. Well, what amazing eyes! Not every beauty has these.” Here's your choice! Unusual. But this can also happen. You decide.
Prefer pets to offspring
In September, the Washington Post reported on the results of a Mintel study that identified baby replacement as an epidemic. Young Americans are less likely than their parents to own cars or own homes, and are half as likely to get married as their predecessors were 50 years ago. But where they definitely have the lead over baby boomers is in purchasing pets.
Three-quarters of Americans in their 30s own dogs (according to this study, everyone 37 or younger is considered a "millennial"), and half own cats. When you compare them to the general population, where only half have dogs and just over a third have cats, the difference is clear.
In her Forbes article, Erin Lowry blames high prices for not having children. No matter how expensive dogs are, even if you treat them like the Manhattan elite (she buys her dog expensive food, takes her dog for paw cleanings, pays for surgeries, hires a nanny and pays for airfare), her check for five thousand dollars is nowhere near It’s worth the expenses for a child.
The USDA estimated in 2013 the average annual cost of children in a two-parent household, and the amount ranged anywhere from $12,800 to $14,970 and up if living in a large city. That's a quarter of a million dollars by the time the kids reach adulthood, and that doesn't even include the cost of college and financial security after they reach matriculation age. If you have three kids and one writer's income, like I do, this fact should bring you to your knees.
But of course that's not true, because as James Breakwell points out, fathers like him and me will never see that much money while their children are alive. Texas A&M University finance professor H. Swint Friday says the USDA figures are "outrageous and misleading" and concocted primarily for "political purposes."
Budget savings, bargain shopping, buying used, and having a spouse willing to be at home and take care of the children dramatically reduce child care costs. But perhaps because many millennials have been spoiled, they now have the clear idea that raising children is only for those with a Batman bank account. This is wrong.
It's hard to pretend that animals are like people
After all, being a pet parent is hard work. These active lies usually involve imagining animals as humans, as in the viral Pinterest post in which a woman fumes, “Don’t you dare say I’m not a mother just because my kids have four legs and fur. They are my children, and I am their mother.”
Millennials were found to be twice as likely to buy clothes for their pets as baby boomers, an industry that includes other forms of "pet pampering" valued at $11 billion that year, supplying much-needed items , like strollers and slings for pets.
Sometimes substitute children require the parent to pretend to be an animal. Check out this new cat brush, which allows the user to become a cat mom by sticking it in their mouth like a giant tongue and licking their cat with it.
Corporations are incorporating the child replacement epidemic into their marketing campaigns. Check out this new Sprint facepalm ad featuring cute Instagram guy Topher Brophy, who looks like Jesus, proudly calling his dog “my son” and consulting with him about his wireless internet plans.
Many of my generation naively believe that their dogs and cats are some kind of “training children,” hoping to test the waters of parenthood with a child who won’t act up his whole life or end up in prison if they don’t cope. And never mind that the dog probably wouldn't like being treated like a lab rat if it could understand a person's motives. But for sure, they don’t really like it when they get rid of them, giving them to nurseries when the “parents” are tired of them. But how many couples are there who misdirect their parenting instincts, constantly spreading terror, and then suddenly deciding that they cannot cope with children?
The College Humor YouTube channel provided some much-needed poking fun at the idea and showed why it's more a sign of a sick relationship than thoughtful parenting (if our marriage ends, only one dog will suffer!). But there are also more serious and long-lasting consequences of millennials' choice to replace children with animals, even temporarily: they will never get around to actually having children.
The boom of “furry babies”
I am sure that in two hundred years the definition of “child replacement syndrome” will appear in psychological reference books as a diagnosable epidemic of my generation. For an incredible number of millennials, the primary reason for owning pets—hairy friends and loyal companions at work and home—has been supplanted by a role that pets were never intended to fill: child replacement.
Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to hear young people my age seriously referring to their mongrels and kittens (I’m horrified even as I write this) as “children,” “furry babies,” “toddlers,” “girls.” ", "boys" or "sons and daughters". And it’s not at all uncommon to hear pet owners refer to themselves as “pet parents” or “mommy and daddy.”
Christian singer Nicole Nordeman recently posted a story on Facebook about a couple she overheard at the airport talking on FaceTime to their “baby” and his “grandparents.”
"They coo and lisp and exclaim, 'Look at you, big boy!' So big! So handsome! Do you behave well with grandma???” These “parents” bombard their own parents with questions about how the baby eats, poops and plays, and “practically die of happiness” when the “baby” returns to the screen to say goodbye. “Mommy and Daddy love you,” the couple squeals. “You are the best boy! We'll be back home soon!"
Nordeman says she turned around to sneak a peek at this sweet baby, so beloved by her parents, and saw... a golden Labrador retriever.
How embarrassed must it have been for the “grandparents” to take part in such a call? How badly they must want real grandchildren instead of sitting on an attention-starved dog? How sad it must be to watch their child waste their parental potential on an animal and force them to play a role in their sick and outrageous fantasy?
Features of living with a pet
In addition, if a person gets an animal, then he is subject to an obligation to maintain and care for it. Due to the fact that the patient feels love for a cat or dog, it is not difficult for him to feed the pet or take it outside. Scientists report that dogs have a better effect on humans because you have to go for a walk with them. Thanks to this, the patient acquires social skills, he has a chance to meet new people and make friends.
