The next time your son or daughter vehemently pleads for a kitten or a puppy. You may want to consider the possibility of giving in to their craving. While their initial desire to have one may be something of a whim, having a pet at home is a great idea, as doing so is very beneficial to their development.
Depending on the ages of your children, you can expect, at some point, the day they ask for a pet. Indeed they may even start to plead for one. Maybe this is because their friends have pets or they’ve encountered animals at school.
Having A Pet Is Beneficial To Your Child’s Growth & Development
You should prepare for this event and not necessarily ignore or refuse. It would be best if you never got a pet out on impulse, and when you consider doing so, you’ll need to discuss this at great length with your children.
The benefits of having a pet when you have children far outweigh the potential negatives. It will bring tangible benefits to your kids and your family. Installing artificial grass is best if you’re considering keeping a pet. Learn more about the difference between sod vs. turf.
Here are some reasons why having a pet is an excellent addition to your growing family.
Learning Responsibility
This is more for older kids and relevant to children of all ages. Having a pet to look after, care for, and have ultimate responsibility for, is an excellent way for them to learn about the commitment and work that goes into doing so.
Sure, in the short term, you, as a parent, will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but ideally, this is an aspect your children will learn to get involved in.
This will involve them feeding and cleaning up after their pet cat or dog (or whatever animal you choose to bring into your house) and will encourage them to understand empathy for others, as well as many other very positive traits that come from being a loving pet owner.
In terms of feeding time and making sure your pet is well fed, you can now at least lessen the burden by organizing pet food delivery instead of having to visit a local store constantly; this may be advantageous for your pet as it will be easier to follow the proper diet regime due to the broader availability of certain pet foods online.
Health Benefits
Having a pet can have actual tangible benefits for your kid’s health. Firstly, having a pet (especially a dog) will entail your child having to keep up with them and, as such, helps to keep them healthy and active.
Additionally, having a pet helps to build up your child’s immune system, and research even shows that a child having a pet in the first years of their life is far less likely to develop asthma.
Children with pets will be outside more, an essential aspect of their growth and perhaps harder to sustain given the allure and pull of the internet, mobile devices, and social media.
Having a pet also helps keep the parents healthy as they’ll be running around after them, so it’s a win/win thing.
Valued Relationship
The bonding that will occur between your child and their pet is priceless. There is a reason we all remember our childhood pets. They leave an indelible mark on us, and their memories of them will always be with us, which shows just how pivotal they can be in our lives.
The relationship between a child and their pets helps them form good social skills, hopefully lasting for years.
Builds Confidence
Studies have shown that having a pet helps to build confidence in children. This is because the care and attention they show their pets, which is part of their progress, offers a level of accomplishment.
If your child is looking after a pet, then every milestone is one they’ll learn from. Such as feeding them, taking them out for walks, and playing with them; these experiences and routines will help your child understand the value of what they bring to the table.
Reduce Anxiety
Having a pet helps to promote a better sense of calm and contentment; this is because children, especially younger kids, will turn to their pets for emotional support and, generally speaking, are less stressed and withdrawn than children who don’t have pets.
Encourages Compassion
Having a pet will help your child to become a more empathetic individual. This is down to several factors. Perhaps the key is that a child soon learns that the well-being of their pets is down to and directly linked to their actions.
They then learn how they are vital to the pet’s welfare; this is especially true when the whole family, as a unit, is involved in taking care of them on a day-to-day basis.
Teaching Kids About Loss
Having a pet will lead to emotional attachments to them, and if and when that pet passes away, it becomes a truly pivotal moment in your child’s development. Learning about life and death is essential to have a pet as part of your family.
Often the first time a child learns about death is from the passing of a pet. This helps children to learn about coping skills and understand how life, as a whole, works. Though the passing of a pet is always going to be a stressful and problematic part of the process of having a pet, it is also a key life lesson that your child will learn from.
