My arm starts to tire as I roll my shoulder to toss the ball out ito the yard. This game of fetch is wearing me out. It has lasted about twenty minutes now. I am also getting bored, but my playmates are still going full steam. I glance through the glass sliding door to see the dogs inside taking a nap. You see, the ones out playing fetch are my two kids. Strange as it may seem, they love it. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this is not the only thing that they have in common with our dogs.
Of course there are the disgusting things that my dogs do every once in a while, which unfortunately 4 year old kids still do on occasion. These include, but are not limited to, pooping or peeing on the floor, and throwing up on the carpet. But the kids also want to eat off the floor. I am not just meaning the occasional drop of a cookie, five second rule type deal. They asked if they could put the placemats on the floor so they could drink water out of a bowl. Of course, I let them, for like two seconds. Just long enough to show them how ridiculous it is. I that short period, they had spilled a bunch, just like the dogs do. We won't try that again.
The kids cry sometimes because they want to sleep in our bed. If I forget to pick up Chili, our chihuahua before getting in bed, she will be crying at the side of the bed, waking me up, just after I fall asleep. Not that she waits until I am sleeping on purpose, but it just always seems to happen that way. Or one of them will wake me up because they have to use the bathroom. The dogs, I understand why they need to let me know. But the kids can turn the light on and go by themselves. They do it all the time. They just yell to tell me when I am sleeping, because? Maybe it makes them feel safer to get across the room in the dark knowing that I am awake. I will have to remember that and not be so grumpy next time.
I love playtime with my kids, but sometimes when playtime is done, they just don't want to quit. They keep pushing and bugging to keep playing. If you pet Chili and stop before she has had enough, she will scratch your hand, asking for more. Persistant little guys.
So I guess the reason a lot of people think of they're pets as children is, because children act like them.
