Which prepares you for the other better? Dogs for kids? Or kids for dogs?

[Adina P]

A fun article and a labradoodle is involved. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-belkin/parenting-and-dogs_b_1652...

I tend to agree with the author because I find dogs exponentially easier than kids -- I thought having had dogs before kids was gonna prepare me a ton!  Ummm...not so much.  The joys and trials of kids is so very different to me.  Similarities are there but far more differences.  Much less sleep, much more worrying, much more creativity required in discipline, cant leave them at home, more laughter even because their antics and verbal abilities change so much in two years, and more!  With dogs, I could follow a training protocol and get consistent results for all pretty easily with help from  my trainer.  They happily lay at my feet or nearby, they don't ask for more then food and head massages.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

but you must have acquired an ability to "tune it out" to some extent. All my mother friends certainly have! When I leave rubbing my temples they all laugh it off saying they are sooo used to it now.

[Adina P]

I can tune out all but whining and major fussing/crying. I have a low tolerance for noise...I don't even like concerts and barking makes my heart leap (in a bad way).

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Think hard but realize It's different but it's still noisy. Noise doesn't bother you as much when you are the Mom.

What I don't like is when I food shop at 6 PM and all the poor little children who have been picked up from daycare are all crabby and crying or screaming. Poor parents, poor kids and poor customers.

My In-laws picked our daughter up from Daycare everyday around 1PM and proceeded to spoil her until we came to get her every evening. The plus side of that was they also made dinner for us and the deal was we clean up the dishes while they continued to spoil their only grandchild.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Now that is spoiled!! I like it! *mental note: if I ever marry, marry a guy with great inlaws*

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Ha ha - and that my friend is an excellent idea!

She continued to be the only grandchild and was spoiled all the way through to adulthood where she proclaimed at 25 that she did NOT want to be a grown up. She had the Peter Pan complex LOL

She's all better now and hoping to be a Mommy soon.

[annmarie sparks]

Ok i fostered dogs for over 25yrs........i've had kids now for 24yrs ...........DOGS are easier than kids! I love them both but Dogs don't need to be told 4000times, they don't borrow car keys LOL or ask for $ NOW i will say having dogs for years does  also aid one's sense of humor, patience, and much more.......thus in a way a dog can prep one a TINY BIT before having kids. I love both.....but with dogs i'd say it's much easier. I LOVE my kids but my dogs LOVE ME UNCONDITIONALLY

[Adina P]

I want to be sure it's clear how much I adore my two!  I talk a lot about how hard it is, because it is.  But oh my I have NO regrets making these two amazing kiddos I've got.  Clark and I brag to ourselves every day about them and how awesome they are and how lucky we are.  They are exhausting but they make me smile and laugh a ton!  I can't think of anything else that stretches me and (hopefully) makes me grow more as a person than being a mom.  While dogs treat you like perfect parents, kids, without knowing it, show you ALL your flaws and you have no choice but to be humbled daily by how much you have to learn, how much you need to grow in patience, tolerance, selflessness, etc.  I think that's ultimately a really good thing, a gift. And yes, they are so dang cute and say the most hilarious things! 

Not too long ago I was grocery shopping and Natalie began ramming her kids' cart into me.  She lost the privilege of that cart immediately and had to sit in MY cart.  She's at the stage where she LOVES to tell Daddy anything she's done that's noteworthy including naughty things.  So she is retelling the story to Clark and it goes like this:

Natalie: I banged my cart into Mommy!

Daddy: Oh no, that's not good. What did Mommy say!

Natalie invents this: She said "Stop that! Drink some Whiskey!

Now she's never seen Whiskey, we don't drink it...what?  BUT...Clark plays the Uke for her and teaches her all sorts of songs like Folsom Prison Blues, songs by Lyle Lovett and other artists that sing about drinking whiskey, smoking cigars, shooting men,  etc.  *eye roll* ;-)  It was hilarious! She knows more 'oldies' and classics than any kid I know.  She barely knows pop music, but has the chorus of Kelly Clarkson's Stronger memorized.  She has a crush on my step-sister's teenage boyfriend but is scared of him in real life because "he makes me feel shy" yet her prayer requests at night almost always involve him...lol

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Natalie invents this: She said "Stop that! Drink some Whiskey!

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

We know you adore those two kiddos but where can you complain if not DK. But I have seen from her smile for some time now that Natalie will give you a run for your money. She is a total character and I love to hear her stories and those about her : )

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

OMD - that is the cutest sentence I ever heard from a 3 year old....how on earth? Children are so amazing and mind boggling, I can't wait to me a Grandma.

Oh and Adina, I am pretty sure EVERYONE knows your kids are your pride and joy - No need to explain. :0)