Does good Dog Mom = bad People Mom?

I have been contemplating this for a while but wasn’t sure whether to post it on the dog blog or the baby blog. Maybe I will post it on both. Hmmmm …

I frequently see people on message boards and hear people in real life commenting on how their relationship with their pets has changed since they have had a baby. How “little things” the dog or cat does piss them off. And I don’t get it. Because I have never felt this way.

I have five dogs and three cats. “Woah! That’s a lot of pets!” I hear some of you say. Other’s are thinking, “You are psychotic. That’s just too many” and a few of you (Hi, BPO-ers!) are going, “I wish I had that many!” Anyway … it is a lot of animal. But, it makes me happy. Honestly, if I had a bunch of land I would start a rescue and have 20+ dogs, quit my job and roll around in the grass with them all day. And home school Sabine and bake bread from scratch. And we’d have cows and get fresh milk and a goat and a potbelly pig and I’d sew us cool tunic’s from linen. Ok, I digress …

Anyway, I really love my pets. They were and still ARE my babies. I am, admittedly, one of those annoying pet parents. If you stand still long enough, I will tell you stories about how cute/funny/smart/stupid my dog/cat is, depending on which one I feel like talking about at the moment. I have five individual picture frames with pictures of my dogs in my office and one photo collage with pet pics. Annoyed yet? I bet you are.

So, EVERYONE figured this would change when Sabine came along … but it hasn’t. Now I’m not only THAT pet parent, I am THAT kid mom. Don’t ask me how my weekend was unless you want a play-by-play of a park adventure with a five month old and five dogs. Don’t get me started on chemicals because I will tell you how they are harmful to your baby AND your pet. That’s just me.

But, does that make me a bad kid parent? Because I love my dogs and cats just as much as I did pre-baby? Because I literally love them so much I could BURST at times!? Because, when I walk through the door at the end of the day, I am THRILLED to see them all bounding towards me for kisses and head scratches? Are the two mutually exclusive?

I don’t know. I hope not. To some, it probably is though. To those who know me, I guess it just makes me Jenn.