You guys were right!

LaManuka said:

It has often been observed that having a parrot is like having a (perpetual) toddler with wings - only worse because nothing is out of their reach and they never grow up! Having not been able to have children myself but having had plenty of little cousins around I think the comparison is a pretty fair one, although just as no two kids are alike, no two parrots are exactly alike either. Take my current three for example. Valentino the budgie is not tame at all, he came to us at about 6 months old and he is happy to play with the other two or amuse himself with his toys. He flies over to us if the other two birds are sitting with us, just to see what’s going on, but that’s as close as he gets and we’re fine with that. He’s a lovely big robust bird and I’d LOVE for him to be a bit cuddlier but he’s beautiful just the way he is.

Fang the cockatiel can be a little neurotic and flighty. He’s hand tame and loves his daddy (my hubby) but always comes to me when he wants a head scratch. He has a heart condition which requires him to be on daily medication and I’m the lucky one who gets to administer it. But he takes it pretty well generally and he’s a pretty good bird. He’s fairly self-contained and doesn’t require constant attention every minute of the day, unlike our third bird...

And then there’s Lilly the lorikeet. Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess Lilly Pilly, and a more difficult and wilful little terror you will never meet! She is about two thirds the size of Val the budgie but she rules our house with an iron fist in an iron glove! She wakes in the morning with the rising sun and demands my full attention for every waking moment. She will bite me if she doesn’t get her own way, I cannot leave her unsupervised for more than a minute, and because she’s so tiny we have to be aware of where she is at all times lest we sit on her/tread on her/squish her in a doorway etc etc etc. I imagine it’s WAY harder to have a toddler with super hyper-activity ADHD and so on but I tell you what, Lilly Pilly comes pretty darned close! My Aunty used to tell me taking care of kids is easier because at least you can usually find a babysitter when you need to take a break, what with Lilly and her craziness and her specialised diet and Fang with his daily meds, I may not ever be able to take a holiday again!

But you know what, I’m ok with that. I chose to have my feather babies and I don’t regret it for a moment. Even when Lilly is being a complete pain in my a**, OMG she’s a funny little bugger and every day she makes us augh so hard we cry! She has been in her bed for about an hour now and she’s making the cutest little “peep” noises at me from under her covers - yeah Lilly I hear you, mummy loves you too sweetie pie ❤️

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saurian said:

I was helping to take care of a baby this weekend. It was a good experience, but what really struck me was this small conversation that took place about how to look after them. I'm not joking, almost every thing they said has been said by somebody on this forum in regards to Parrots! I mentioned it, and the adults in the room didn't really care/were annoyed at me suddenly saying, "Babies are Parrots. Parrots are babies." I'm really quite amazed by this. In fact, the first thing I said to myself when I saw the child's toy box was, "I bet a bird would love to play with those!". Just like babies, sometimes Parrots make noises for absolutely no reason. And they don't stop. Is it weird that I'd rather listen to a Cockatoo scream than a child wailing because it isn't getting what it wants? I mean, they're practically the same thing! The whole thing is mind boggling. Did you know babies need a routine as well? Ha ha.

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noodles123 said:

saurian said:

I was helping to take care of a baby this weekend. It was a good experience, but what really struck me was this small conversation that took place about how to look after them. I'm not joking, almost every thing they said has been said by somebody on this forum in regards to Parrots! I mentioned it, and the adults in the room didn't really care/were annoyed at me suddenly saying, "Babies are Parrots. Parrots are babies." I'm really quite amazed by this. In fact, the first thing I said to myself when I saw the child's toy box was, "I bet a bird would love to play with those!". Just like babies, sometimes Parrots make noises for absolutely no reason. And they don't stop. Is it weird that I'd rather listen to a Cockatoo scream than a child wailing because it isn't getting what it wants? I mean, they're practically the same thing! The whole thing is mind boggling. Did you know babies need a routine as well? Ha ha.

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I would agree with the comparison to toddlers---babies are easier lol.
However, here are some of the distinctions---
A cockatoo can produce much more noise than a child (in terms of persistence and decibels--Think jet-engine up-close at take-off). EEK--after all, they are meant to be heard up to 5 miles away in the wild (flock calling).

Kids don't have all of the weird medical/respiratory needs/restrictions so you can take them with you without worry and use normal cleaning products without a ton of concern.

People are more willing to empathize with the lifestyle changes required by parents (not so much with parronts--there just isn't enough awareness of what a job it is).

Without the use of a tool, it is unlikely that a child could cause you to require stitches.

Toddlers can't fly (thank God).

Toddlers can eat the same foods we eat.

Toddlers don't generally self-mutilate when stressed.

Some toddlers are actually LESS intelligent than birds when it comes to visual/spatial reasoning

Finally, toddlers exit the "terrible twos", whereas parrots do not.

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