When you are a mom, it is fun to see everything through the eyes of your children. Everything is new and magical and lots of fun for them. One thing, in particular, is animals. Our kids can get so excited about seeing a pet dog walking with their owner down the street. A trip to a farm or a zoo is heaven for them as they see all of the different animals on display. It can be easy to see why many children will then ask for a pet as a result. But do you know what? There are many benefits of our children getting a pet. It helps them in a lot of ways. What pet you get does depend on your home and circumstances. For some, a cat would be the ideal pet, but for others, a dog or hamster would work. It all depends on you. But if you’re thinking of getting a family pet, then here are some of the reasons why you should.
It Teaches Them Responsibility
The age of your children will play a role in how involved they can get with helping the pet. But even from a young age, they can help you to clean out a cage or tank. They can play with a cat or a dog, as well as fetch food for them. It could be that they have the responsibility to feed the fish or brush the cat’s hair. It could be that they are responsible for giving the dasuquin for dogs (health supplement) or carrots for their rabbit. Whatever it is, it teaches our children a little responsibility. It gives them an important role in the pet’s life, which will help to foster confidence as they do so. When they know they have helped to clean out their rabbit’s hutch and given them a clean place to live, it gives them a feeling of pride and accomplishment. In doing so, it also teaches them about the world. They know that they have to take care of others and that they can help others in a variety of ways. So getting a pet does teach our children responsibility.
It Keeps Them Active
When you have a pet like a dog, for example, it can make a massive difference to our overall health, as well as our children’s. The reason being, dogs need to take walks daily. Meaning that each day we will need to walk the dog and play with them outside. The kids will enjoy doing this which is great for many reasons. It can help them to burn calories and maintain their weight. Getting out in the fresh air is good for them and can help them with the amount of vitamin D that they can naturally get. There can be no excuses of just sitting in front of the TV when their pet dog needs to be walked. Likewise, having children for a dog to play with can help them a lot too. When they are active, playing, and taken on daily walks, it can help them to stay healthy too.
There have been several studies that have shown that homes with pets have much less risk of getting common allergies, as well as things like asthma. It is hard to pinpoint the actual reason why, as it could be because of a multitude of things. It could be because the family as a whole is outside more and in the fresh air more than others. It could be because they are exposed to pet hair early on, so they get use to it. The reason isn’t certain, but it can make a difference. Sounds like a pretty good benefit of having a pet to me!
It Can Help With Anxiety
When we are raising our children, we know that they will go through some hard times. Some of our children might experience mental health issues or things like anxiety. These things can be hard to deal with at any age, but especially as a child. But a pet has been shown to help reduce feelings of stress or anxiety in children. It can also help to combat the feeling of loneliness that can happen from time to time with our children. When they feel like they have a buddy to see at home, who does love them regardless, then it helps a lot. A pet can be that buddy!
It Can Help Them At School
When our children are learning to read, it can be a long process. For many, it can be quite hard as they learn lots of new things and process it all. But if they see their pet as their friend or almost like a sibling, it can make a massive difference. They are more likely to want to read to the pet and read out loud. So it helps them with their reading and their speech. As a pet can help them to be more confidence as they have some responsibility, it can help them confidence in their learning and school work too. In turn, it can help with their social skills. When they feel more confident and able to speak to others, it can make them more sociable children too.
It Helps Them To Be Caring
As they will have some responsibility when it comes to their pet, they will learn to be more caring. They will see that what they do impacts others. If they forget to clean out the pet’s bedding, it will leave their pet to be uncomfortable. So it helps them to learn about empathy and about what it takes to be caring.
There are things to consider like the cost of having a pet and the time that they would need. But if that looks like it will all be fine, then as you can see, there are many benefits to having a pet. Do you have any pets? Have you found these statements to be true? It would be interesting to hear what you think on this.