Showing Off The Grand-Pet-Daughters

Is posing children as hard as posing pets for a picture?

DH and I laugh about our furry children, Lexi and Chloe, the dog and cat. We call them our babies (actually, I call them that) and when everyone else talks about their kids, we talk about our pets. Of course we say that there is "no real comparison" and "we don't mean to compare our dog and cat to your child(ren)," yet this is all we've got! One dog, one cat. I love them, they are spoiled, they are our babies, albeit furry babies that shed a lot.

It's not just us, my in-laws are talk about them like they're kids too. Given our beloved Welsh Corgi Pembroke and Norwegian Forest Cat are the only "kids" we have, they get spoiled by their grandma and grandpa! The other day, the in-laws had a small cocktail party for DH and I. There was about 15 people total and in all it was a pretty good night, but I actually got teary-eyed watching my MIL show off my dog to her friends. She was so proud of my Lexi, and her friends, well...they were kind in listening to MIL talk about the dog. Later, I realize that she took several of her friends into our bedroom so they could see the cat (who was hiding under the bed)! I walk towards the room and 8 people came out saying how Chloe was hiding. Really? So, being the good DIL that I am, once everyone else left the room, I lured the cat out from under the bed and brought her out to meet the guests that "heard so much about her because g'ma has been bragging." About 10 of them saw Chloe, all approaching her once saying, "Oh, she is beautiful" and "What a big cat!" Chloe was not pleased. As she tried to escape from my arms, MIL thought she'd help me out by taking the baby from my arms, I mean cat from my arms. In doing so, the cat freaked out with her back claws drawn and paws opened wide (Norwegian Forest Cats have HUGE paws) which in turn scratched me in the transfer to MIL/jump down to the floor so Chloe, the grand-cat-daughter, could run back to the bedroom to hide under the bed again. I can see it all in slow motion in my head. The youngest couple there (the neighbors our age, everyone else had at least 40 years on us) smiled in attempt to comfort me in my pain. They, too, are childless, and seemed to understand the all the all to familiar "Pet Grandchildren Showing" we were living through as they have two dogs themselves.

Then, just yesterday, we went to a restaurant on the pier for dinner. It was a place where we could eat outside so we were able to bring Lexi, the grand-dog-daughter. It took 45 minutes for the food to come, so MIL took Lexi around to the other tables. These tables were not full of people she knew, they were all strangers, but MIL just wanted to show off her grand-dog-daughter. Oh yes, everyone got to meet the gdd from the north! MIL was so happy doing it too! I could only imagine how she would be if Lexi was a human baby! My heart is sad that the in-laws have to settle for furry grand-pets rather than a live person. I wanted to tell her, "I'm sorry, but I'm trying!" But I didn't. I just told my husband, who also saw his parents fawn over a dog and cat. Why is this making me cry? Why am I feeling bad, like it is my fault that they have to show off the furry girls because we don't have real babies. I'm not sure where this guilt is coming from, and I don't like it. I pray that the next time we come down to visit grandma and grandpa, there will be more than furry grand-pet-daughters to show off to the world!