Our Kids Are Not Plants

Remember the movie '28 Days' starring Sandra Bullock? It was released in 2000. The beautiful Sandra plays the role of Gwen. In the beginning of the movie, Gwen arrives at her sisters wedding drunk. At the end of the movie, after 28 days in rehab, there's one scene where it mentions about getting into a relationship. The therapist offers a suggestion. Get a plant. If you can keep the plant alive for a year, you're ready to start dating.

As people get to know us, they tend to comment about how we treat our "dogs" as if they were "real" kids. That's usually followed by a, "You'd be wonderful Mommies if you ever decide to have (human) kids" or "At least you'll be prepared for when you have (human) kids." It's at this point I'm reminded of the movie '28 Days'...the plant scene.

What does any of this have to do with a movie about 28 days in rehab? 

Being a dog Mom isn't a trial run. There are no tests to pass or evaluations at the end of the year to determine if we should move forth with become Moms to human kids. We're not dog Moms to test our capability of becoming Moms to human kids. We're simply just dog Moms. That's a decision we made years ago.

Our kids are not plants. 

Lisa is almost 48. I'm 42. Not that age has anything to do with it. Just recently, a former classmate of mine had a baby. Another handful of classmates have young children. They decided to wait until later in life to start a family. Others are grandmothers. This is a reflection of personal choice all the way around.

The same goes for us.

The operative words are "personal choice." I would never make comments about people's personal choices. If you choose to be a Mom to a human kid, fine. A furry kid, fine. If you choose to not be a Mom at all, that's fine too. It's not my place to throw out comments, regardless of how nonchalant in nature, about those choices.

We chose to be dog Moms. Our family consists of two Moms and 3 furry kids. Who, by the way, are "real kids." And, we're "real Moms."

And '28 Days' will continue to be one of my favorite movies because Sandra Bullock is a phenomenal actress.