In my house, my wife is the one who wants pets, and I’m the one who prefers to remain pet-free. We had cats for 17 years, but they (sadly) died, and now I want to at least wait a while before getting another pet.

My wife avoids telling me too often that she wants a pet. Saying it all the time would be bullying of a sort. Not sure about LW’s question of sexism. I agree with the columnist that it is a bit unreasonable not to expect your child(ren) to have their own opinions on pets that you’ll need to factor into future decision-making.