[geeks] pets as childern was Breeding, etc.

[Tim Harrison]

Chris Byrne wrote:

> My wife and I are also in the same situation. It is very unlikely we will
> ever be able to have children because of medical difficulties Drea had as a
> teenager, so she has transferred her 'mothering instincts' to our cat. She
> literally refers to geist as her baby sometimes, and not in a cutesy way, in
> a serious way.

Tara does that with our cats.  The big difference is, I want children. 
I've always wanted children.  Mostly because I feel that I can be a
better parent than my parents were.  I'm also the last Harrison in my
family who's willing to carry on the family name.  In our family, it's
not all that important, but it is to me.  Our family used to be large,
strong, and affluent.  Now, we're most definitely not (after the move to
the "colonies").  I suppose I feel a little unhappy about that.

However, Tara is totally against children.  She doesn't deal well with
them in any situation.  Plus, she's got anxiety and depression issues,
which would definitely not help in raising children.

I, on the other hand, had to play father to my nieces for 9 months when
they were 6 and 3.  It was tough, but it was also very rewarding.  I'm
seeing a lot of posts making pet raising sound much more rewarding then
children, but I feel quite the other way, only based on that 9 month
period.

I've never been a big fan of cats or dogs.  My mother, who is very much
mentally ill, has a house full of dogs (at last count, I think she had
18 or so), and my father just puts up with it.  When I had my first
legal troubles around 15 or so, my mother had to come into court, and
she swore, under whatever oath you take in family court, that she was
more concerned about the dogs than her children.  So, animals have
always been a problem for me.  I had birds for a short amount of time
after I met Tara (doves, wonderful birds -- George and Gracie) that
helped me relax and calm down, but she asked me to get rid of them, as
she was allergic to birds.  She's also allergic to cats (we have two,
and she's planning on a third), horses (she's a horse trainer, and works
at a private farm in Pawling, NY), dogs (she's trying to convince me to
let her have a Rhodesian Ridgeback when we move into a house), and
general dust and hair (which our apartment collects in buckets).

Widdle and Lardass (the cats -- Breakfast and Smack respectively) get
treated like children, and I just see them as non-paying roommates.  I'm
constantly sitting down with Lardass and explaining that he needs to
start jogging, and maybe get a job and help pay the rent, but he never
listens.  Just sits there, blinking in the sunlight, and taking up my
favourite position on the couch.

Sorry, random Monday morning rant. :/

The point of my rambling?  I want kids, Tara does not.  She wants more
pets, I do not.  Are we going to ever have children?  Probably not.  Are
we going to have more pets?  Most likely.  Will that make me happy?  If
it makes Tara happy, and they leave me alone, I'll survive.

-- 


Tim Harrison
Network Engineer
harrison at timharrison.com
http://www.networklevel.com/