For the rest of my vacation we were joined by my sister-in-law (SIL) and the kids, aged 3 years and 6 months. This is the perfect age for two children- if you want to be constantly annoyed. The three year old is in the "Look what I can do!" stage, but unfortunately she can't do very much so you end up watching her jump up and down. The 6 week-old has two modes: Asleep and Screaming. So basically, someone is always trying to get your attention in the loudest way possible.
Parents quickly develop the ability to ignore high-pitched squealing that takes people like me much longer to get used to. So my SIL would be there, holding the baby and doing a little dance that shuts her up, while the other one is yanking on her pant leg saying, "Mommy I want some juice. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy!!!! Juice!" During this time, she'd be conversing with my brother or I as if this wasn't happening. I couldn't make out much over all the screaming, but this is an impressive parenting skill that I never want to learn.
My brother's dog Rachi (short for Liberace, natch) was there at the cabin the whole week. This dog is retarded and smells horrible, so he's a lot like the children. But it was interesting to compare the two types of caretaking required by the different mammals.
Dogs Versus Children
Dogs: Wake you up when they're hungry or want attention
Children: Ditto.
Dogs: You can leave them home alone and go out all day.
Children: No such luck.
Dogs: You can put them outside and ignore them.
Children: You have to wait until they're at least 5 years old for that
Dogs: Like to chase sticks and roll in the mud.
Children: Ditto.
Dogs: Are fun and cuddly.
Children: Grow out of that stage.
Dogs: Only need a bag of food and a bowl of water.
Children: You can't travel more than 10 feet without 35 pounds of equipment for their care and
feeding.
Dogs: When they're mad at you, they usually ignore you.
Children: When they're mad at you, they usually scream and cry.
Dogs: Don't travel well.
Children: Ditto.
Dogs: Are fun to take on nature hikes.
Children: Just don't get it.
Dogs: Love you almost unconditionally and show it.
Children: True until they're teenagers.
My family has always been weird about their pets. My mother sings to the dog. She has always taken the dog to work. My brother makes special trips for his- he actually pulled the car over more than once when we passed a stream or lake that he thought the dog would like to swim in. Okay, I'll just tack on an extra hour to my day because your dog wants to play stick.
Now, I love animals, but I guess I'm a cat person- even though that's not very macho. I like cats because they're independent and take care of themselves. Dogs, on the other hand, are very much dependent. They get up and come over to you like, "What are we doing today? Are we going to the park? Can we go to the park? Can we go swimming? Please!!!" In that way, they're a lot like kids. Cats are there to entertain you, but dogs want you to entertain them. Again, that's a lot like children.
I guess this explains why not only am I not a dog person, I'm not a child person either. Maybe if either one was less demanding and better at fetching me drinks...