For all the "be gentle" that parents give their babies about how to touch cats and dogs, the parents themselves aren't always so gentle. Over the years of having children grow up around our dogs and cats I became more compassionate toward the pets. Having learned to communicate with and to understand non-verbal babies, I was better at understanding "non-human-speaking" animal companions.
photo by Sandra Dodd
Thanks for posting this. I agree wholeheartedly. We used to yell, "hey" at the cat to get her to stop scratching etc... until we heard our son doing it, too! It sounded so nasty, it made us realize that we could be a lot kinder. And, I'm proud to say, my son has been so kind to the cats lately...
ReplyDeletePeople always say having pets is a great way to teach compassion, but I agree, we absolutely have to model it - or the lesson is lost. =)