Let me start by saying that no one loves animals more than I do. Over the past 24 months I have had to put my two little Chihuahuas (Kookie and Chia) to sleep (they were elderly and their organs were failing) which was the most heartbreaking experience of my life. The experience was seriously traumatic for me, I think about my Chi's every day. My Chi's where my first children since I was in my early 20's and in college. After my kids where born logistically it was very hard to take care of my Chi's. I did it, and I did it like a champ with all the love in the world, but it was HARD! REALLY HARD. Also caring for them during old age with little kids was even harder. As much as I would LOVE to adopt a few new fur babies I just cant while my kids are still young. Parenting little human kids is the hardest thing I have ever done. I don't have a large extended family like some moms to help out, not even one ounce of help. Everything is on my own with the help of my amazing husband. In fairness the choice to not adopt another pet right now is the most practical, fair, and logical choice, I mean we are talking parenting here right? There are some moms, a lot of moms that can not handle the needs of an animal while their kids are small. Some moms have really hard pregnancies and post partum health issues that prevent them from being able to care for a pet. Since we all miss Kookie and Chia so much, for now my family has adopted several plug in fake jellyfish tanks. You don't have to clean them, they are maintenance free, and they provide a super fun and wonderful 'pet' experience until we are 'ready' for another real furry friend. You can find all sorts of these maintenance free jelly fish tanks online for affordable prices, they even have fake goldfish bowls too with little fake fish that swim around. For parents with special needs kids, these are an amazing option as well because they are virtually no maintenance. Someday we will adopt another dog and when that day comes we will all be over the moon with excitement, but until then, we will enjoy our fake jellyfish tanks and there is no shame in that.