I made a promise to my child that I’m pretty sure I can’t keep

Before you say anything, I know I totally brought this problem on myself and I already know I should never had said anything in the first place, but it’s too late now!

 

I should probably explain something to you before I begin: my wonderful daughter is animal mad (which is surprising considering a cat can’t so much as look at me without me feeling a little uneasy!)

 

She loves all kinds of pets - cats, rabbits, horses - and about three or four years ago, she asked for a dog. As she looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes that day, I couldn’t help but melt to her wishes and shamefully told her that yes, she could get one when she was ten.

 

At the back of my mind I was hoping she’d forget all about it by the time she turned ten, but so far she hasn’t. In fact, every birthday she’ll make an announcement that she is one year closer to getting her own dog – five years, four years, three years... And with every announcement she makes, I feel a little more uneasy.

 

I know I should never have said anything in the first place, but we all do it, don’t we?!

 

At the time she asked, her being ten was so far away I couldn’t even imagine it! But now, almost every day, she talks about the type of dog she’d like – a Schnauzer or a Tea-cup terrier.

 

As a family we would love to have a little dog - or in her father’s case, a giant husky - running around the home, but they require a lot of time; time that we certainly wouldn’t be able to give the animal.

 

And while at this moment I can’t ever see me sticking to my promise, I know things change and nobody knows what’s around the corner. Hopefully, I might get to keep my promise and all this stressing will have been for nothing. Fingers crossed.

 

Sadly, I didn’t learn from my first mistake, and she also thinks she’s getting a horse when she’s 20 – although I did tell her she was on her own with that one!