Originally posted by Kfamr

Threads about children always make me feel bad, since i'm a child myself and it's like i'm some sort of sin for being born... because my parents chose to have me.
Sounds like your parents have done a good job of raising you and you do not sound like a child. You express your self well. I have three grown children myself and in particular, a 19 year old daughter who dearly loves her cat - very much the way you seem to love your animals. Her cat is very much her "baby" and is spoiled rotten. But when the time comes for her to have her own flesh and blood child which she wants so much - THIS is a lifetime commitment that never ends. It will change who she is *forever*. The young woman she is today, will simply not exist in quite the same way - ever again. In all likelihood, like me, she will then become a grandmother and a great-grandmother - and so forth. Being a mother means helping to mold and shape another personality, a person who will hopefully go on to become a contributing member of our society and carry on life and humanity as we know it.
There are some *similarities* between training a child and training a pup - such as you mentioned, yes. But to parents who "chose to have you" as you said - this is world of difference than going out to adopt a dog, cat, bird, rat, reptile, etc. Animals can become members of the family and the givers and recipients of amazing love, but they will never be *above* a human being.