Pets vs. Kids

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but aside from the one I'm carrying, I also have another son.

I dare say, he's a little small for his age. This is Dr. Pecan, my pet turtle.

I took him outside in our new back yard the other day, and after I proceeded to encourage him to play and explore the yard while he looked at me inquisitively, I started contemplating differences and similarities between how we behave around, treat and care for pet animals, opposed to human children.

What I came up with was rather startling.

I Talk to him
I sing to him
I play games with him (make faces and really fast paddling motions)
I try to guess what he's thinking
I can "tell" when he's "smiling"
I (and Frank) make sure he's clean and fed and the proper temperature
I hope that he loves me
Try to get him to eat new vegetables
I go to the store to buy him new things for his room (/tank)
I get excited when he does something new
I leave a nightlight on for him
I send pictures of him to my family
I project my hopes for his future onto him (note the title--he's going to Hopkins)
I DREAD anything bad happening to him
I love him!

In light of this list, I have to concede that minus the anatomical implications, and the fact that they speak your language eventually, kids are in a weird way, kind of like pets--at least on paper. Just more expensive, harder to feed, less-highly trainable and containable pets.

And think about how we process baby animals...
You're SO excited to get one
and it's SO CUTE
and you wonder how big it will get
and EVERYONE wants to see it
and you're afraid to let anyone touch it (but you do)
and you take a million pictures of it
and you get to give it a name, which you may have picked out before, or may have waited to choose
and you prepare a special space for it
and then it gets here...

and you LOVE it,
and you try feeding it and taking care of it
and you freak out when you're not sure if it's "supposed to do that"
and it makes noise in the middle of the night
and you have to clean up some unexpected mess it makes
and it feels like a lot of work
and you learn all of its little habits and likes and dislikes
and you decide to keep it forever
and in no time at all you can't imagine being without it

Kind of weird, right? And also very exciting, because if I love my turtle as much as I do, I bet I'm going to gush and cry daily over how much I love my flesh and warm-blooded son. I can't WAIT.