Jan. 24 -- Lisa's Musings on Every Day Life

While working on one of my other jobs on this soggy Sunday, I came across a Top 10 List that I had to share.

(In case any one's interested, in addition to being a reporter for A2 Journal, I'm the editor of an international cat magazine called "I Love Cats" and I also sell advertising for a chain of national magazines.)

So, according to this survey, this recession is causing folks to put off having children.

Instead, they are getting pets.

In my book, getting a pet isn't a bad plan. There are a lot more of them in shelters, casualties of said current recession.

And, there are lots of advantages to pet-owning that don't apply to child-raising.

So, here's the list of Top 10 pets compiled by a company trying to sell people pet insurance.

The Top 10 Most Popular Child Substitutes are:

1. Dog

2. Cat

3. Rabbit

4. Guinea Pig

5. Rat

6. Hamster

7. Mouse

8. Gerbil

9. Reptile

10. Bird

I've owned many dogs and grew up with a cat.

Rabbits are cute and are gaining in popularity. I used to raise a breed called Holland Lops that I actually showed at rabbit shows across the country.

As a kid, I had gerbils -- they bite -- and guinea pigs -- they're fun.

I even had mice with pinto markings, when I was much shorter in the tooth. But, they had a tendency to escape from their expensive cages with the exercise wheels, which sent my mom into a panic because my dad was not a mouse fan.

Plus, they made lots of little mice. Constantly. And liked to run in their wheels at night, which I was pretty used to, but which drove my parents nuts.

Today, my dogs take care of the wild mice that make the mistake of seeking refuge inside my house. And, I admit it, I am an accomplice to mouse murder. Like my dad, I really don't want them running loose in the house pooping everywhere and chewing wires.

Who says we don't grow up to be our parents?

But rats? I think not.

Reptiles are, for the most part, kinda boring. Or maybe it was just the ones I had. A few turtles, horned toads and small lizards when I was younger.

I also had an ant colony in one of those plastic houses that allowed you to watch them at work.

All of them were OK.

I'm not a fan of snakes. Even the garter variety that live on my property, which make me jump and jerk my feet up when I spy one while on the lawn tractor.

I've contemplated getting a bird, but they are just so messy and again, there was my history with a myna bird in the house when I was a kid. He learned all kinds of bad words that he'd utter at very inappropriate times.

I wouldn't want my bird repeating some of the stuff I've been known to say at times -- especially while I was on the phone interviewing someone.

I'm content to watch the wild ones outside where they belong fighting the squirrels and chipmunks for the expensive seed I buy them. I can still call them my birds, right?

Since I've owned almost every one of these pets at one point or another during my lifetime, and chose not to have kids, perhaps I'm just an animal lover.

One who didn't need the recession to change my mind about wanting to have kids in the first place.