I’ve been going through all my articles, trying to organize them into categories for possible books on specific topics. Some topics are easy – customer service is one of the things I have the most experience with, therefore it’s something I write about frequently. Some topics logically lend themselves to being grouped, like aging and health. But one group might give people pause – “Children and Pets”.
I used to joke with parents that we had pets rather than kids because, “the neighbors get upset if you put your kids on a leash or leave them outside all day.” Of course, I was joking! Our pets have all been Very pampered. No doghouse in the yard for them! They have all had warm, comfortable beds and plenty of toys. Our current pet, a feisty chihuahua named Jack, has at least four (yes, Four!) beds, and several boxes of assorted toys. As a veterinarian once said, “why have pets if you aren’t going to spoil them.”
It’s also a well-known fact that many people consider pets family. Thus the term, “fur-baby”. And certainly our pets have been loved and cared for with the same devotion people give to their 2-legged kin. But that isn’t the main reason why I group children and pets under one category.
For me, the best teachers in my life have been children and pets. Both have taught me to look at life – and life’s challenges – with fresh eyes. Both have helped me recapture some of the innocence and wonder that came so naturally to me as a child. Both have made me smile and cry in new and profound ways.
You don’t have to be a parent to benefit from the wisdom of children. For me, the lessons came from other people’s children that I interacted with through jobs like Sunday school teacher, Daycare worker, and Kindergarten aide. Those experiences served to provide me with a multitude of memories and life-lessons that I still treasure to this day.
Pets, I think, are different. You can’t truly understand the love and warmth of a dog or cat unless it is your own. In my life I have loved so many animals. They live within my heart still, along with all the emotions and lessons they gifted to me.
I once wrote a poem that began with the lines:
If old dogs and children consent to lie down
And spend just a moment of time,
You let them.
The love and wonder of both children and pets is a tender, fleeting miracle. As I wrote in another poem:
May you treasure each miracle placed in your path,
No matter how brief or how small
And may you always be aware
And thankful for them all
The Search for Intelligent Life! 