Tuesday Tips: The Kids Want A Pet: Are They Ready?

Tuesday Tips: The Kids Want A Pet: Are They Ready? by Alice Shaffer



One of my nanny families had the best idea for when the kids asked for a pet. They had a process they had to go through before the parents would give them a final answer.

They were required to read a book or more on the animal of their choice that they were interested in. After they read the book, they had to write a paper on the animal and why they wanted it.

What is to be included in the paper:

1. What kind of animal are they interested in?
2. Why are they interested in this animal
3. What types of food does the animal need.
4. What type of attention does the animal require
5. Does the animal require vet care?
6. What will you do when you go on vacations with the animal?
7. Does the animal cause any known allergies to people?
   
8. Who will be paying for the supplies of the animal?
9. Who will be feeding the animal? When?
10. Who will be responsible for cleaning up after the animal
11. How long is the animal life span?
12. If trainable, who will be training the animal?
13. Where will the animal sleep?
14. Does the animal make a good family pet?
    
15. Any other facts you have found interesting.

This is a project that the kids can work on together, but they must read a book about the animal etc. So an older child can read a book out loud to a younger child who doesn't read.

This research on pets has been very helpful in the house because there are numerous allergies to animals. The kids ended up with goldfish from the fair, betta fish from the store and have two parakeets now. What is really nice about this is that the kids need to invest time in the animal besides "Mom, I really really want a puppy". The kids have stopped researching several animals such as the ferrets when they are known to cause allergies in people. Other times they realized that the pets they were interested in were not as cool as they thought.

Good Luck with the upcoming summer and kids wanting a new pet for the family. Try this tip out and let me know how it goes.