I don't have a dog, but people tell me the same thing about my birds...........except they tell me I'm substituting them for baby brothers/sisters, cause really, I'm still young and not married and it would make no sense for them to tell me to have a child already! But I know I will get that, when I get older.........because my love for animals is not going to fade, and I'm not going to have pets just because I *want* a child and to substitute for it. I will hopefully, probably have both children and pets when I'm older. I honestly like animals more than kids most of the time, but then when I think about it, I think I would want to have a little human girl, and maybe a boy too, sometime in my life, when I'm older.

Now I have this girl........my friend, tell me WHENEVER she comes to my house.....*Oh, you love your birds SO much! As if they're your babies*

Me.......* They are my babies!*

Her.......*Well, you see them as your babies now, but when you're older and have kids of your own, I'm sure you'll love them even more!*

Me........*I'm still young and don't want to think of kids right now........BUT, I will definitely love my kids if/when I have them. That doesn't mean my love for pets will fade. It only means that I'll have love for something else as well.*

Her.........*Of course you'll still love your birds! I'm just saying kids are special!*

Me........*I know..........but pets are just as special to me as anyone's kids are to them.*



Seriously, that girl's my friend and I do like her, but it gets on my nerves when she says this! I'm not substituting my pets for a human child, be it my babies or my siblings or whatever. I love them for who they are and nothing can substitute them in my lives.....I can say that.......but THEY aren't sustituting for anything in my life!