So Eric and I don’t run for a year, and then we end up doing two 5ks within a month of each other.
This past weekend, Eric and I–along with our bundle of joy, Bentley–did the 2013 Orange County Race for the Rescues, a charity race that benefits animals in rescue shelters.
This was the perfect family event for us because we were helping raise funds for other rescue animals, and we got to participate as a whole family–which we are.
I love my dog. I really love my dog. And while we didn’t get him from an animal shelter (we inherited him from a family I used to babysit for), I can’t picture our life without him.
Bentley will always be our first baby. So I completely understood when Kristen Bell said she was worried that she wouldn’t love her baby as much as she loves her dogs.
And then people pounced on her like she was some crazy mother because she compared her dogs to her human baby.
Here’s the thing: Things like that are exactly why people with kids get on people without kids’ nerves.
People with kids seem to have this superiority complex that their life will always be more complete because they have a human baby, and your life–you childless mongrel you– will always be not as complete because you don’t know what it’s like to have a child.
*I’m not saying all parents of humans are like that, but there’s a big enough group of them that sites like STFU, Parents exist.
I really love my dog. I baby my dog, I feed him, I walk him, I buy him clothes, I take him on family outings and to visit his grandparents, and I even clean up his sh*t. And when he really pisses me off, like if he has an accident in the living room, I can still only stay mad at him for a couple of minutes at most. That’s love, right?
So yeah, I get what Kristen Bell is saying.
In fact, my own mom has said that when she was pregnant with my younger brother, she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to love him as much as she loved me–because she didn’t know if she could have enough room in her heart for all that love.
She says now that of course she loves him as much as she loves me, but let’s be honest–there’s always a soft spot for your first-born right?
Well, Bentley is my first-born. And I’m sure that when Eric and I finally do pull the goalie and have our own little bundle of crazy joy, that we’ll love the little human as much as, if not more, than we love our dog.
Heck, we may even become some of those people. In fact, I’m almost sure I probably will become one of those people. But I promise to do my absolute best to keep my “my life is fuller than yours” attitude to a minimum. Deal?
For right now, there are no mini Erics or Erikas running around. So all we know is how much we love our doggie and how much happiness he brings into our life.
Are you a pet lover or a baby sanctimommy?
*For the record, I have a lot of friends who are not all “my baby is more important than your life” but every now and then, you run into that person who makes you feel like your life just isn’t worth as much because you don’t have kids. I hope I never become one of those people.
13 comments
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Amen to all that sista. I hate those preaching parents too. They look at me like I”m crazy with my dog. Screw them:)
Great reason to get back into running!
I’m a mom of human and fur babies…but my human babies are in college and at this stage I see things from a new perspective. This past May my husband and I spent two weeks in Italy and France and our human children came home from college in time to take care of their fur siblings. That’s what I call family planning! 🙂
I am a pet lover – and my husband and I treat our dog like she is our baby.. because she is! We got her when she was only 9 weeks old and she is almost 4 now. I hate when people make fun of us for buying her clothes or buckling her up in the car. They don’t know what is going on in our lives or yours – maybe we can’t have “human” children and this is the next best thing… It’s not right to look down on someone who cares for and loves God’s creatures.
I am right there with you. I LOVE my cat…and as you know, just lost my beautiful Nala, my fur soulmate, and every time I think of her, write of her, talk of her, I get a tear in my eye (like right now…darn it…), and miss her immensely and still can’t believe she is gone. So yes, my cats ARE/were my children. Always will be. I won’t apologize for that!
Anyway, I love that you love Bentley so, I LOVE that you ran this race. So great 🙂 XO
Preach on.
My cats and dogs are my babies. I coddle them and they have outfits, little sweaters. Theyre so cute and im always taking pictures of them.
I still refer to my parents first dog together, Trisha, as my older sister.
One of my friends has the best behaved most well rounded kids… and everyone loves them! But she still refers to their dog as their “first born”. And he is as much a family member as the kiddos are. =)
Your dog is such a cutie! I have two cats right now, but “my baby” sadly passed away last year. She was the first cat I ever had that I had full responsibility for, and I still remember the day she came out from under my bed after we bought her home, because I sat there for hours trying to get her out. It still hurts to think about. I love my cats, and I would love to have a dog in the future. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with viewing dogs and cats as family/fur-babies.
Love this post! So many people think that I am crazy because I treat our dogs like my children. They are my everything and I would do anything for them 🙂
My cat is my “first born” and I get horribly sad at the thought of him not being in my life. I almost can’t imagine getting another cat because it just wouldn’t be Pepe. So I totally get it!
I LOVE this post and couldn’t agree more! I can’t stand when people with children act like their lives are somehow infinitely more fulfilled because they popped out a baby at some point. My lovely sister-in-law is one of those people. I love my pets just as much as other people love their human kids (and I definitely love them more than I love other peoples’ kids, haha!) and I’m perfectly happy with my furkid-instead-of-human-kid arrangement 🙂