Annette Naake

I would hate to see the children arguing over who cares for pets, and one of
them threatening to let an animal starve in order to prove he's in control
of his decision to care for them. It makes pet care seem like a chore on the
order of dusting, and animals seem like.. well... furniture.

We have guinea pigs, fish and a cat. I don't ask the kids to take care of
them. I model loving care and offer to let the kids hold, bathe, feed, or
whatever. Obviously, I am in charge of which pets to get, though. The kids
(9 and 5) have often asked for a dog, but I don't want to take care of one
and to me, it's wrong to let the care of a dog turn into fodder for
bickering, blaming or guilt-tripping.

My mother surprised our kids (and especially ME) with hermit crabs and they
slowly died in their terrarium, despite my best efforts, research on the
Internet, books from the library, etc. It gave me nightmares, literally.

I think the best way to teach kids responsibility toward animals is to model
it, showing them that it's a responsibility for mature people .... like
driving a car or caring for younger kids.

Annette

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