"Mama,"...or "Meow-Meow?"

Some say Angela has my nose

Few would deny that children are life’s greatest gift. But for some of us, parenthood just might not be in the cards. Does this mean we will never hear the pitter-patter of little feet? Never be the center of someone’s world? See that gaze of unconditional love?

NOT! While I will never be a parent in the true sense of the word, I am “Mommy” nevertheless to three adorable offspring…Angela, McDuff, and Sinead. And although there is little resemblance (except, some say, around the whiskers), they are as much my babies as if I had had the littler myself.

What’s more, when I look into their yellow-green eyes, I know, without as much as a feint meow, that these puddies love me just as much… and believe I’m their mother, too.

My three babies are as much mine as if I had had the litter myself

Indeed, (though some may dispute this), I am not a lone crackpot. And I can point to lots of folks who share their hearts and homes with sons and daughters who swat spiders and walk on four legs instead of two. And like myself, I’ve never heard them wish it were otherwise. (See our Petside feature, “Can Pets Take the Place of Kids,” if you don’t believe me.)

I guess what I’m trying to say is that our progeny are there to love and be loved, no matter what form they take. Mine just happen to be beautiful, intelligent, warm, playful, and dependable, with wet noses that can smell Mahi-mahi a mile away.

No matter who we are and how we boast, none of us can really have perfect children. Still, McDuff, Angela, and Sinead come awfully close.