I was terribly nervous when I went to my parents’ house on vacation with my dog Grace, a 4-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Not knowing how she would react in this unfamiliar environment, I inspected the floors for objects that could be swallowed. Since she wasn’t fully potty trained yet, I constantly checked her to see if she was going in circles – a sign that she needed to be taken out.
After a week without incident, my mother finally spoke to me face to face. “You act like a helicopter mom, she told me. Maybe Grace would feel better if you stopped being behind her all the time.” I remained speechless. I had always assumed that I would excel at taking care of someone, and now that I was actually responsible for another living being, it seemed that I was not up to the task.
I began to worry about what this portended, not only for Grace, but also for my future children. Should I also follow them as their shadow? Or could I learn to let go of Grace and be more relaxed around my own children afterward?
The idea of getting a dog to “train” before having a child is now a cliché – but it has some truth to it. Millennials are having children later and later and prefer to adopt dogs first, who become full members of the family, as my colleague Katherine Wu recently explained.
Many couples choose to raise a dog before having children. According to a 2021 survey commissioned by a dog food brand, 40% of households are [américains] to welcome a cat or a dog and say they took an animal to test their ability to take care of a child.
A living being’s responsibility
Raising a dog is definitely not the same as raising a child, and if you don’t actually want a dog, don’t get one for practice parenting.
That said, taking care of a dog has some advantages when preparing to become a parent. Some similarities—like potty training—are pretty obvious. But generally speaking, adopting a pet means taking responsibility for the well-being of another living being. This experience can reveal facets of yourself that, with the right dose of clarity, will be an opportunity to grow as a person.
Preparation for becoming a parent covers a wide range of activities. Reading books is one of them: you will definitely find some tips there, but this learning remains theoretical. Caring for young children, such as babysitting,
The rest is reserved for subscribers…
- Get access to all the content you subscribe to
- Support independent writing
- Receive the alarm clock every morning
Our readers are also reading
The source of the article
Atlantic Ocean (Washington)
Anticipation is one of the strong points of Atlantic Ocean since its creation in 1857. This venerable publication, where the most prestigious authors of the moment write, has known better than any other American magazine to take the turn of the Internet, making its website a very dynamic place for reflection and debate. Intellectual and calm, like its hometown of Boston, the magazine adorns its pages with poems and sophisticated illustrations. Founded by a group of writers a few years before the Civil War, its mission was to advocate the American idea. The publication of the first texts of Mark Twain, the war reports of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Letter from Birmingham Jail (Vibrant Defense of non-violence, 1963) by Martin Luther King does not deny this ideal.
Extremely dynamic and rich in new content, the site Atlantic Ocean has created a special place for itself in the world of the online press and is often cited as an example of a time when the written press is struggling to reinvent itself.
You can also consult there, for a modest fee, all the articles published since the first issue, published in November 1857. Theatlantic.com claims 4.3 million monthly users.
Read more
Our services
