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December 2010 Moms
TMNTgirl
member
Funny Observation: Being a Pet Parent
TMNTgirl
member
Since it's kinda slow - here's a funny story/observation:
So my MIL/FIL were talking about how clueless their were as first time parent's when DH's older sister was born.
They said that they started to notices that SIL wasn't talking as much or as early as some of the babies they knew that were around her age. So when they asked their Dr. about it he said, "Well, do you every talk to her? Just talking in normal converation with a baby helps their language development, even though they don't fully understand what you are saying".
MIL/FIL said the concept of talking to their baby never really dawned on them since they knew she couldn't understand them.
I thought about how talking to your baby just seems to obvious to me. I then realized that maybe it's because I'm a pet parent and I'm constantly talking to my dog or singing silly songs to him. I know that the dog can't understand everything I'm saying, but I don't care. I like talking to him. Even if it's just about something totally not dog realated (do you want dinner, to go for a walk, go outside, play, etc).
Of Course - I'm not saying that people who don't own pets aren't going to know to talk to their babies. Or that every pet parent will instinctively know to talk to their babies. It was just kinda a funny observation I made about myself. Since MIL/FIL thought it was crazy to talk to someone that wouldn't understand them - but it comes so naturally to me because I'm the crazy lady who sings songs to her dog on a daily basis.
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Re: Funny Observation: Being a Pet Parent
I spoke to a really rude lady yesterday from a junk removal company about one of our properties and finally I hung up on her... I literally turned around and told the whole story to my frenchies sitting on the love seat behind me. They just looked at me and tilted their heads to the side when I would say F***... but then when I was done they came over and licked my hands.
Essentially, they reacted perfectly and I wish people I talk to would act like them. (Except not necessarily lick my hands).
I do talk to the baby a lot though
And yesterday we were rocking out to Lil Wayne on Pandora for a large portion of the day. I'm not sure what developmental benefit gangster rap has... but it was one of those days.
I know people hate it when you do the whole dog/baby comparison.
But. I think the one best things my dogs have taught me is how to teach and just the science of learning in general. So much of the theory does transfer.
Also, I'm fairly confident that the fact that my one dog knows well over 100 words/phrases (last count was somewhere around 128) is because I constantly have talked to him since he was a baby. If it works for dogs who can't speak the language, it must work for infants who eventually do.
Oh. And talking to babies - just don't fall into the trap of talking FOR them. I've seen parents make this mistake with the same results as your MIL/FIL and SIL.
food blog | garden blog | curly dogs blog
DH is in school three nights a week, so sometimes it's just me and the dog as well.
I think it's so cute when they tilt their heads at you when you talk. Sometimes between that and the look in his eyes, I can just tell that he's trying to hard to understand what I'm saying. It's like I can see the wheels turning in his head.
I know some people hat the comparison to. But I do believe having a dog together has prepped DH and I for parenthood in some ways.
People keep saying to us, "once the baby gets here - no more sleeping in on the weekends" and stuff like that.
We haven't slept in on the weekends since we got our dog. He's up bright and early and wants to go for his walk or to the dog park.
We have to be responsible to make sure we have enough food/water for him everyday. We can't just take off for a weekend trip or vacation anymore without planning for what we'll do for a dog sitter. And even when I'm dead tired I still have to suck it up and take him for a walk because I put his needs before mine. He needs daily exercise and play time/tricks or he'll go crazy! (He's part cattle dog - so the working dog part of him requires LOTS of exercise and mental stimulation. Otherwise, he'll destroy the house!)
Plus, DH and I both had dog growing up and had different ideas about how to raise/train a dog. But we had to come up with compromises that worked for us and the dog once we got a dog together that was "our dog".
I totally agree. There is a lot that does apply. Positive reenforcement, redirecting, classical conditioning... all of that applies to humans as well as dogs. Hell, I even use Time Outs on the dogs when they have gotten too ramped up to think straight.
On the flipside, though, I also hate it when people say that the dog is training us for the baby. One, because I think it demeans the dog - he's not just a "test run" for having a baby. Second because not everything applies. I'm probably not going to crate train the baby, for starters. I think CPS would probably have an issue with that.
food blog | garden blog | curly dogs blog
Yep. Our dog isn't a "test" run. I've had a dog since I was a year old (only didn't have dog when I was in college) and DH hasdog since he was about 10 or so. We both are huge dog lovers and plan to have dogs while our kids grow up and long after they are all out of the house.
ITA with both of you all. To be honest, I'm not sure if I could have pictured myself as a parent, if I hadn't had the experience of caring for my pets. I'll be the first one to admit that I was kind of selfish when I was younger, and I couldn't even wrap my head around why someone would want a baby. Having a pet taught me that putting someone else's needs before your own sometimes may be tough but it can also make your life so much richer. Maybe some people are born knowing that, but I think I needed that experience to grow as a person to be prepared for parenthood.
Not only do I talk to them I also get "mommy" guilt with them. If I can't make it home at lunch to let them out and noone can help out (rare) of if we are out and it starts thundering and I know Sam is at home scared.
Agree pets are not a test run for children but you learn alot that is applicable.
During grad school, in a business leadership class, the professor made the reference to being a dog parent, transitioning into parenting a human and leading a business. If you can't lead a dog, or a child (by talking to it and being an example) how could you ever lead a sucessful business.
On another note, some friends of ours have a 3 year old boy and I strongly believe that he knows as much as he does because they talk to him without all the baby talk gibberish.
I too talk to my dogs all the time...they ARE good listeners
Our beautiful baby boy!!!
Trust in the Invisible ... and expect the INCREDIBLE!!!
There are SO MANY articles on the importance of talking to your baby!! As a teacher, these types of subjects hit a sore spot for me.
I work at a school with mostly all low-income families and these kids have no conversation skills whatsoever (2nd grade). It really shocked me at first, and it's actually really sad.
Just as an interesting side note: I learned from a professor in grad school that there have been studies that show that low-income families speak only an average of 500 words a day to their children, while medium to high income families speak over 2,000 a day to their children!
I am not saying in any way that low-income families are all bad families/parents, whatever. I am probably at the lower end of medium myself. It's just that low-income families usually have less education and are typically less informed about what's good or not for their families.
Anyway, I've had pets all my life from birds, to cats, to dogs, to hamsters and I've always talked to them!! Who cares if they can't understand...it's funny!! I think it's actually kinda strange NOT to talk to them!