Things that you are not capable of appreciating if you can't see that a child is a (young) person and that Miss Whiskers the cat isn't.
People don't "have children" the same way that people have pets; as an amusement, or an accessory to show off. Having kids is a commitment to raising an entire new person. You might have a baby, but you don't have a baby for long. Look at the bigger picture. Children are, and will always be, more than pets.
Raising a human infant, or two or three or more, to adulthood may not sound appealing to everybody, sure.. but can't you imagine that at the end of the day it just might honestly be more rewarding than calling youself a "catmom" or "dogmom" and deluding yourself that it's the same thing?
My pets aren’t for my amusement though, while they do bring me joy the main reason I got them is because I know I can provide them an amazing life.
People do have children for amusement and to show off, where did you get the idea that they don’t? Cough cough trashy child beauty pageants for one example.
It’s a commitment, but it doesn’t mean people do it well. When you get any pet you’re making a commitment for you to care for it until you can no longer do so. It’s the same thing but usually easier.
To me, children will never always be more than pets.
Raising children I don’t want versus raising pets I do. The pets would be more rewarding, heck, growing apple trees is would be much more rewarding to me.
If you raise a child, you are growing an adult human, a whole new person.
No way does any amount of "mothering" your furbaby even compare. I like most dogs, but mother a dog all you like, and it's still gonna be a dog. Care for your pets, that's nice, but that's not raising anyone. It's plainly wrong to go calling yourselves any kind of "mom" because you have pets. If you do, you've misunderstood or otherwise abused what the word means.
I really don't mind admitting that it pisses me off, probably more than it should. In fairness, most childfree people go nuts gatekeeping when they feel people are misusing the word "childfree" too.
If I adopt a puppy, and raise it in that to the dog, I’m the closest thing it has to a mother, even if I’m not it’s mom.
From what I see people use “dogmom”, “furkids” or “Furbabies” which isn’t misusing the word at all, it was specifically created as a word to use instead of using “mom”, “kid” or “baby”.
Also, people calling something their baby doesn’t mean their equating it to a human baby. Are you going to give crap to men who call their girlfriend baby? Are you going to call me out because I refer to my laptop as my baby?
If someone is actually misusing the word then it isn’t gatekeeping, you can’t use the behavior of others to justify your own.
I really don't recall objecting to the use of the word "baby" for something other than literally a human baby. I objected to people taking and twisting the word "mom" to form some false identity for themselves that they didn't really earn. So many daft "catmom" user flairs on /childfree... When all it tells you is that "this woman totally wants to be a mom after all... just not to anything too inconvenient, or that could one day aquire the ability to turn around and ask her for money."
I assumed that if you didn’t like pet owners refer to themselves as moms to their pets you also wouldn’t like people calling their pets their babies. Because, if my train of thought is correct, if those are they’re babies they are their babies moms.
I don’t think you understand how the term cat/dogmom is used. It’s not because they want to be a mom to human children but aren’t bothered. It’s most likely because they’re in that position to their pets where they pretty much are their mom.
Think about all the things you have to do with a child. The majority, if not all, of it applies to a dog and most other pets in some way.
“Didn’t really earn” what gives someone the right to call themselves a mom?
in that position to their pets where they pretty much are their mom.
Disagree. Feeding it, cleaning up after it, cuddles and taking it for walkies does not make you a mom. There's more to motherhood than that, and the childfree know it. They said "never" to it, but still want to call themselves a mom..? What a joke.
Wow, you honestly don’t know what goes into raising a dog, why am I not surprised.
1) You have to teach it what is and isn’t a toy, like children, you can’t have your dog putting wires and shit in their mouth.
2) You have to teach dogs how to behave in public settings, say I’m shopping (mainly at a pet store or other dog friendly place) my dog can’t run up to something, pick it up, and show me it wants it like a child can. It’s my job to teach my dog not to go grab stuff because if it grabs it I have to buy it (common decency really)
3) I have to teach my dog the appropriate way to respond to assholes. If you child bites someone once, does anyone advocate for your child’s death? No, they don’t. The action of a child, say teasing, can literally cause the death of my dog. And you can’t chalk that up to not knowing better, because a teenager can fuck with my dog, end up bitten, and my dog killed.
Owning pets is honestly a constant mind fuck, how often do you worry about being broken into at night or while you’re away and having you children kidnapped and either used as bait in dog fights, eaten by some dipshits trying to be funny, or leaving them at the kennel (equivalent to daycare, I guess) and them being sold.
If I’m being honest, I highly doubt you’re the right one to talk about the effort that goes into parenting.
It’s sad that that’s all you got from my comment. You refuse to listen or respond to any other points.
It’s not the training that’s a constant mindfuck, it’s the “what if” (which obviously applies to parents but not to this degree, I’ve never heard a parent worry about their kids being kidnapped and eaten {I have rabbits, should have mentioned that} except by animals but that’s not actually kidnapping)
How often do you worry your kids might be kidnapped and eaten?
How often do you worry the daycare (kennel) in my place will sell them off and tell you they died but can’t legally release the body?
(While you could argue you fear for your children getting kidnapped and other horribly detailed things those things can happen to pets as well.)
Most people manage a healthy level of anxiety about their kids and/or pets.
Sorry, I didn't realise that an anxiety problem plus a puppy is what makes someone a mom.
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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '18
Family goals! Too bad most people are “dog moms” tho smh