WWW January 26, 2011

It’s the last Wednesday of my favorite month and this is what’s weird, my friends. Pets are the children of our generation. Your typical lesbian cat jokes aside, bear with me. For some of us, when our parents were our age now, they were thinking about getting married, married or married with us in the oven. When my parents were my age, they had two children, multiple degrees and steady jobs. Come on, we all read the articles, see the news reports and experience it first hand, we are taking longer to grow up than our parents did. One reporter has generously given us a “window of emerging adulthood,” through which we have until 31 to climb. Phew.

What does your gaydar read, kitty? Gay or nay?

If you are anything like me, the idea of having a child’s physical and mental development under your sole umbrella of responsibility is a notch below terrifying. However, don’t think I don’t understand that undeniable instinct to mother something. Some express it through relationships with friends or girlfriends, making sure everyone is warm and well-fed (or happily drunk, whichever applies). Some may take in double the recommended dose of Teen Mom shows to suppress the urge. And a lot of us fulfill that inclination to take care of something through our pets. They give us a reason to end the night early. You know, to make sure Fluffy has kept his promise of remaining house trained and not pooped in the closet. I suppose I should only speak for myself. Perhaps not everyone is accustomed to putting down a bottle beer, filled halfway with beer, the other half with guilt, and dashing out the door to rush home to “the children” (aka 1 dog and 1 cat who have been home for 1 hour).

Cat lover fashion! Photo found by my sister who is obviously great at finding photos.

Our pets are our gateway responsibilities into the bigger and (not better but) different venues of our lives in which we will need to be competent enough to take care of a living being other than ourselves. I know. I know it’s incredibly weird to heat up my dog’s food and to say goodbye for 15 minutes before actually walking out the door, but hey, I’ve never been as responsible for anything as I am for my dog. Hopefully I can say that about a couple of kids someday.

How much do you love your pets? What do you do that’s weird? I sometimes put my dog’s food bowl on the table so we can eat together. So bring it.