Dogs Are Cheaper Than Siblings

Hubby and I have gotten some strange comments through the years regarding Daredevil’s singleton status. When Daredevil was four months a friend said “You have to have another child or else she’ll turn into a spoiled brat.” I looked at her incredulously; some of the brattiest people we knew had siblings.

On Mother’s day two years ago my mother in law sent me a text saying, “I had a dream that you had two more children. You’d make a great mother.” I guess parenting one child doesn’t count.

I had another woman tell me that I should just get pregnant. She knew Hubby was deployed at the time, so I figured she meant with another man’s baby. Naturally I ignored her.

Very recently my grandmother and aunt came over to visit. Grandma said, “Hurry up and have another one before they get too far apart.” I glanced over to my aunt to catch her reaction to this statement. Auntie had two children ten years apart.

Very few people understand or believe that I could actually be happy with one child. Sometimes I joke that my ideal spacing is eighteen years. Hubby’s reaction? “Ahh no.” LOL

I have ten siblings. We’ve made and continue to make some really great memories together. I remember hanging out with them in Chinatown hunting for the perfect pair of chopsticks. Then we dined at a Ramen restaurant. We stole food from each others bowls. Sharing stories and jokes, our laughter filled the restaurant. Then we went home to start cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to get a head start so that we could go to the parade the next morning. We fell into bed sometime in the AM. Then we rolled out of bed early the next morning pulled on some clothes, grabbed bagels and coffee and hopped on the J train to Manhattan. It was Daredevil’s very first Thanksgiving Day Parade. They shared that moment with me. I adore my siblings. Times like those make me wonder if Daredevil would enjoy having a little rug rat around.

Hubs and Daredevil took a few years to convince me to get a dog. We ended up bringing Rocky home two years ago. This dog somehow became Daredevil’s pseudo-sibling. She chases him around the house. She picks fights with him. She calls him over to slam the door in his face. And she is ALWAYS- I mean ALWAYS- trying to get rid of him. I can’t imagine how I would react to her treating her sibling that way. So I’m glad we have poor Rocky. Plus he’s cheaper than another kid.