The boys have been watching dog shows. In particular, puppy shows. And with that, they are angling to get a dog- a topic we thought we had dispelled, at least for a while.

So to challenge the hundreds of possibilities to our objections to getting a dog (mainly, that we aren’t home enough to properly care for a dog), I tossed out to the boys that they haven’t exactly kept up with maintaining the fish (our stepping stone to a more important pet). My youngest said he was having trouble caring about the fish. He told me I had purchases too many fish- that at first he was able to call a couple his own but that every time I went to the fish store I came back with more and now there were too many.

This made me think, is it possible to go beyond some secret limit for bonding? Is it a good thing I only have two kids to bond with? Would I have failed having more kids- 5, 6, 7……. (sorry, just passed out for a minute).

First I find his bonding issue to be an excuse. I think he could still bond with HIS fish and in the process, care for the others. I also think the only limits to bonding are time- you can have a ton of close friends, the only thing that limits hanging out with all of them regularly is time.

I often think back to just before my youngest was born. I didn’t think I could bond with another child as much as I had bonded with my first. But, alas, we have. We have been able to share that bond among the two of them and I am sure we could with more. And the importance of the bond is not how many you bond with but how strong that bond is.

So, whether you have 1 or 2 or a dozen (which is well beyond crazy)- bond with them all, it is possible and necessary. And make that bond strong- don’t miss out. And every once in a while, feed the fish.