Kids Calling

I have nothing against kids.  I really don't.

But... my one pet peeve is when kids call.  Little kids.

I understand, some parents want their kids to be independent and to do things for themselves... but I find about nothing more testing of my patience than when a 5 year old calls me and I'm trying to explain chinchilla adoption to them, and they parrot everything to the parent, who is undoubtedly sitting next to them on the phone.  So then, mommy says "tell her this" and the kid parrots it back to me, and then my response gets parroted back to mom.  Same with appointment times.  Back and forth and back and forth and then it turns into chinese telephone (remember that game?), because sometimes what I said is not what gets parroted, and sometimes what mom says is not what the kid says back to me.  So there's room for misunderstanding, even.

I know I cannot be the only person who finds this to be aggravating.

If you bring your kids to the adoption, I'm perfectly happy to show them how to hold the animals, to answer their questions, and to listen to the stories they tell me about their 26 goldfish and 6 cats.  More than happy.

But please, do not have them call me on the phone and try to ask how adoptions work or set up an appointment, while you listen on the side and tell them what to say and how to respond.  If you wouldn't do that when scheduling a doctor's appointment, please don't do it here.  There's plenty of opportunities in life to teach your kid how to talk to someone on their phone (their friends or relatives comes to mind), but my patience just isn't up for it.... (not like I'm going to hang up on them, but I may ask that they put mommy on the phone).  I'd like more hours in the day, but until that's magically granted to me... I'd much rather talk to you (the parent).  Thank you.