Are Pets Replacing Children?

I’ve never really liked animals. I think unicorns were my favorite animal as a kid. This was my first clue, but I didn't see it at the time. Think about it, unicorns aren't cute and cuddly animals that you have to touch or take care of. They don’t even exist. Oops. I hope this wasn’t a “there’s no Santa Claus” moment for anyone.

When I was younger my family had a dog, Daisy, and although I probably wasn’t the best at taking care of her, I loved her. I was very sad when she died my senior year of high school. One of our dogs after Daisy chewed my retainer and my teeth got crooked. I had to get braces again when I was 27. Another dog chewed through my bedroom door and trashed my room (more than once). I’m just not a huge fan of that kind of behavior.

Sometimes I think I want a mini dog, one that will sleep curled up under my armpit at night and keep me warm. I’m allergic to dogs, though, and I’m not too keen on picking up miniature poopies and letting a dog pee in my house. And, the hair. The hair.

This brings me to the point of this post: more and more people are obsessed with their pets and they’re adopting pets instead of having children or getting married. A lot of my friends (some of them read my blog) have pets that they treat just like human members of their families. They buy clothes and SHOES and let them sleep in their beds. Didn’t pet obsessions used to be just a crazy old lady thing? Is this a widespread phenomenon or do I just have weird friends? I feel like the odd ball here. I just don’t understand pet obsession. Does the companionship outweigh the annoyance?

I found this on YouTube. Is this normal? Am I heartless? Am I the strange breed? Someone help me out here.