Are your kids begging you to get a pet? I\u2019ve been there! Cats, dogs, guinea pigs, a hamster, even an octopus! We\u2019ve had almost all possible childhood pets living at my house \u2013 although I\u2019ve drawn the line at ones with feathers and scales.<\/p>\n
(Okay, we did have fish and later chickens in a coop in the backyard.) We\u2019ve loved them deeply and given them sweet names: Tom Shadow, Franny, Zooey, Storm, Artemis, Maggie, Percy, Zeus, Mohawk, and Huckle Cat.<\/p>\n
We like to laugh at their antics. \u201cRemember when Franny caught her tail on fire and we couldn\u2019t catch her?\u201d Or how about our cat Maggie who plays fetch. Percy the dog sneezed joyfully anytime one of us came home, so now my daughter and I will goofily sneeze at each other sometimes to share the memory. Our Labrador Zeus gently sneaks items of my clothing to bed with him every night.<\/p>\n
Our pets have made us smile and made us cry. Their deaths have allowed my kids to \u201cpractice\u201d mourning before they had to\u00a0mourn for lost people. They\u2019ve taught my kids caring and responsibility. Their presence makes our lives richer.<\/p>\n
So if you were to ask me, I\u2019d say, \u201cYes, get your child a pet!\u201d If your kids are trying to convince you, maybe they should let you know that:<\/p>\n
Kids from homes with pets\u00a0may have:<\/p>\n
Of course, pet ownership isn\u2019t for everyone and is a decision to take seriously. If you\u2019re planning to have a pet, here are some things to think about.<\/p>\n
There are safety considerations too.<\/p>\n
Having a pet can bring you and your kids joy \u2013 if everyone understands the responsibility and safety issues with bringing home a furry, scaly, or feathery new member of the family.<\/p>\n
My Doctor Online:<\/strong> American Academy of Pediatrics:<\/strong> Are your kids begging you to get a pet? I\u2019ve been there! Cats, dogs, guinea pigs, a hamster, chickens, even an octopus! We\u2019ve had almost all possible childhood pets\u00a0living at my house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[147,155,153,61,284,285,192],"class_list":["post-1470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-life","tag-allowance","tag-chores","tag-family-chores","tag-parenting","tag-pets","tag-pets-and-children","tag-siblings","ages-all-school-ages"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1732309053:6"],"_edit_last":["6"],"slide_template":["default"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":[""],"_thumbnail_id":["1487"],"wpfp_favorites":["365"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["293"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1732309191"],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Having pets in a home with kids has many potential benefits - But how do you decide when to get a pet for your family?"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1470"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4773,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470\/revisions\/4773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAsthma and Pets\u00a0(Emmi)<\/a>
\nPets and a New Baby<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAllergies and Asthma: When Pets Are the Problem<\/a>
\nCats and Children With Asthma<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"