Life Lessons for Kids from Their Pet

What Life Lessons Does a Pet Teach?

I hesitated for quite awhile before getting a dog.  I had three little mouths to feed and care for already.  And most days I barely made it through keeping them alive.  How could I possibly handle adding another living being to that mix?!  But once I saw our Collie-Sheltie mix, Olive, I knew she was meant to be part of our family.  And adding her to our family was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.  Here’s why…

Life Lessons for Kids – From Their Pets!

In just the one year since we’ve had our Olive, my kids have learned SO MUCH.  Here are some of the “life lessons” I’ve seen them learning:

 

• TRUST & LOYALTY – There’s no one I’d trust more with my secrets than our dog.  A child’s first pet can be the perfect trustworthy friend.
• COMMUNICATION – Anyone who has a dog knows that even without words, they communicate!  A pet can be a great way to kids to learn about nonverbal communication but also to practice their verbal communication, too.
• COMPASSION – Not only compassion for animals, but just compassion for others in general.  From concern for our Olive who’s outside with bad weather coming to comforting her after a medical procedure, my kids are learning and showing compassion.
• IMPORTANCE OF PLAY & EXERCISE – Our pets, especially dogs and cats, remind of the importance of play and physical activity in our overall health.
• DEATH & GRIEF – It’s We hate the thought of losing our pets, but our pets naturally have a shorter life span and accidents happen as well.  Don’t let that hold you back; this can be an opportunity for your kids to learn an important life lesson.
• RESPONSIBILITY – This is the obvious one.  Pets are work.  They need fed and cared for.  They make messes.  Kids can learn so much from being a part of that caring and cleaning!

Swiffer® Knows Pets & Responsibility!

One of the things that has helped us reach that last life lesson has been getting the kids involved in caring for Olive.  They often fight over who gets to feed and water her.  That’s the fun part.  It’s the cleaning up that often has them all scattering.

UNTIL we got our Big Green Box from Swiffer®!  

It was full of Swiffer® products that are pet-friendly (no harmful chemicals) and easy enough for the kids to use, too.

Now the kids love sweeping and dusting the dander and pet hair away.

In fact, we put on some music and have fun as a family cleaning away!

Plus Swiffer® sent us another Big Green Box to gift to “Swiffer® It Forward” to a friend with pets.  Sawyer passed ours along to our dear friend (and driver of B-Inspired Mama supported Sam Warren Racing), Sam and his family.  He was thrilled!

Swiffer® Supports the ASPCA

I’m excited to share that Swiffer® is supporting the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (#ASPCA) in a year-long effort to help find homes for animals in need and help make the challenges of cleaning up after a pet less of a concern after adoption.  Swiffer® has donated Big Green Boxes just like ours to more than 100 shelters nationwide and provided 7,000 pet adopters with a free Swiffer Sweeper during the ASPCA Mega-Match-A-Thon the weekend of October 17th.  Now that’s a positive #SwifferEffect if I’ve ever heard of one!

Do you have pets?  What pets do you have?  What life lessons would you add to the list of things your kids have learned?  

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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.