The Secret Life of Pets

Feels good to be back to work after a well needed week off. 

Today I'm taking you back to when I was 5 years old and had dreams of becoming a Veterinarian. That was actually what I wanted to be 'when I grow up'. I was and still am the biggest animal lover and it's why my biggest dream was to work with animals. Growing up I owned everything you could possibly imagine. My house was a zoo, no doubt about it and the coolest part was that my mom didn't mind. At one point we had lobsters, turtles, hamsters, birds and dogs, all in the same house. It may seem crazy because it was. My brother and I would do anything for our pets. Having a long day of school and after school activities took over our childhood. It was only when we returned home to our pets that we felt like kids again. There's something critical about a child having some type of responsibility from an early age. This prepares them for their future. It was only 10 years ago when I met Moe (my husband) that everything completely changed for me. 

When I married my husband and moved in our own place I didn't have any children or pets at the time so I felt a little lonely when my husband was at work. One day I brought up the 'pets' topic and told him that I would really love to rescue a puppy. This was when he informed me about his allergic reactions to dogs. My dreams of having a house filled with dogs were crushed and thrown by the sidewalk waiting for the garbage truck to pick them up.

In the meantime I settled for Bubbles (a beautiful pink betta fish). Until years later when my brother stopped by our house with a birthday surprise for my daughters. I didn't expect anything more than  toys to fill their basket with. Little did I know, after that day our family would expand.

My brother brought home the most adorable kitty in the world! He called him Tiger, because he looked just like a white Tiger. I've never owned a cat in my life or had any experience with cats but was definitely up for the challenge. My daughters instantly fell in love with him and we ended up keeping him and changing his name to Gringo. He is a Lynx Point Siamese and is currently 11 months old. Never would I have imagined that owning one cat and one fish and being mom to two kids could make me this happy. I feel like our family is now completed. The best moment in my life included each and every one of them. I don't have a lobster, a turtle, a hamster, a bird and I sure don't have a dog.. but I have so much more.

I wanted to tie in The Secret Life of Pets in this post since the movie comes out today, July 8th. My family watched it two weeks ago and loved it!! I also had the pleasure of interviewing Lake Bell, Kevin heart and Eric Stonestreet who are the voices of 3 adorable characters in the new movie. 

One of the questions I asked Lake Bell was,

What is the message you hope kids take away from this movie?

Lake Bell:  I think that the movie really appeals to both--the good news is that it appeals to parents and kids, so there is sophisticated humor in it as well as sort of silly humor and then everything in between.  But, I think that there is definitely a strong message of friendship and community and adventure, I suppose.   I’m an avid sort of rescue animal person.  I’ve always rescued animals.  And there is just something about the responsibility of taking care of a pet, I think, that’s sort of an overarching thing.  I don’t know if it’s directly with the movie.  But, in general, now that I have a daughter as well, there is the idea that you want a pet.   But, you don’t really understand the kind of ins and outs and genuine responsibility that comes with owning one.  And I think having dogs my whole life was the kind of gateway to learning how to love full stop, like how to love another human, how to be accountable for something. Those are lessons that I think are sort of paramount to creating a good person who will walk amongst us. I’m pro-pet in general.  And I think, you know, it’s like I’ve always said--I’m like, “Don’t trust anyone who is like, ‘I don’t like dogs.’”  You know, it’s like, that doesn’t make sense.  You don’t trust--you’re clearly a sociopath.  But, anyway, that’s it.

One of the questions I asked Kevin Hart was,

Do you currently have a pet? If so, do you treat him/her differently now that you created this movie and have a better understanding of how pets think?

Mr. Kevin Hart:  I am officially a dog guy now.  I was not a pet person at all.  But, women have a great way of persuading you to do what they want eventually, so my fiance beat me down and got me to get dogs.  And I thought that I would be against it, but I’ve turned into not only the alpha male, but I’m so fucking attached to my dogs.

I hope you guys are able yo watch this great movie which like Lake said, there's a strong message of friendship and great humor for the kiddos as well as the adults. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone! 

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