Multiple Children and Multiple Pets: A Funny Little Moment

It is quite common to see people who do not have any children, or whose children have since vacated the home, to adopt animals and treat them as if they were their children. Of course, this type of treatment can also be found in families that do have children. Pets are often considered to be just as much a part of the family as any human member.

Anyone with multiple children knows that there are many conundrums that arise with having more than one child. For instance, how often have you wished that you had named your children the same name so that calling one would get them all, instead of going down the list until your tongue finds the matching one? This is especially true when it is time for a scolding. The child that most often gets into trouble will often be the first name out of your mouth, no matter which child is causing the actual problem at that moment!

Multiple pets can raise a similar situation. One should really keep it in mind to name each pet with names that have differing amount of syllables, intonations and/or letter sounds. For with pets, if they have names that are similar (for instance, all 1 syllable names), you call one and all of them will respond!

Now combine the 2 family arrangements together. With multiple children AND multiple pets one can only imagine what sort of confusing situations arise! Take the following anecdote for example:

I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and of course all 3 dogs were in the kitchen watching my every move, waiting for any tidbit to drop upon the floor. My 3 kids were in the living room watching TV. The oldest child decides to go out on the porch (whose door connects to the living room) to grab herself an ice cream treat (as an appetizer before dinner). Now being that the porch door is also the front door, the dogs are already attuned to barking at anyone that walks through it.

Not being able to fully see the door from their posts in the kitchen, the dogs heard the porch door open and immediately all 3 stood at attention while the smaller 2 began to bark. (Because the small dogs all have the biggest egos don't ya know.) I walked into the living to see what was going on and saw my daughter coming back in, ice cream treat in-hand. I shushed the dogs and told them in my motherly voice, "Oh be quiet, it's just your sister!"

My middle child, the ever observant and technical daughter, immediately laughed and pointed out what I had said. Then she proceeded to tease her older sister on how Mom made her related to the dogs. LOL!