Hello readers

Are your children nagging you about getting a pet? Have you sat them down to explain the actual costs (money and time) of owning a pet over its lifetime?

My kids, even though we have 10 animals, still ask me at least once a week to add another pet to our big family. My response is always, “The initial cost of buying the animal is the cheap part. It is the food, healthcare and toys for the rest of their lives that cost a lot and increase every year. We cannot afford to take on any more pets unless we start charging our friends an entrance fee to visit our little zoo. If we do, I don’t think our friends would visit too often.” Of course they laugh, don’t believe me and continue to ask.

So in order to curtail the repetitive plea for additional menagerie members, I have compiled The lifetime costs of owning your pet to help my children understand the money and time implications they will have to agree to before taking on another pet. I hope you can also make use of this list for your little animal lovers, albeit a little frightening!

Welcome to Yulanda Ridge who has joined our "Ask the Expert" panel. Yulanda is a lactation consultant and is passionate about encouraging new mothers to breastfeed as naturally as possible, and specialises in latching problems, relactation, and breastfeeding multiples. She also has a keen interest in how diet and lifestyle affect all aspects of family health.

We have some amazing family deals listed on our specials page, see below. There are some wonderful parenting seminars over the next couple of months, Baby Sense and Toddler Sense and of course The Baby Expo MamaMagic™ will be in Durban this weekend. Please read below for further information.

www.kidzworld.co.za

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