My boyfriend and I got into an argument and I’m honestly confused if I’m the asshole here or if he’s just being dramatic. He says if someone doesn’t make a clear separation between their *actual human kid* and their “dog kid,” that’s pathological. Like… a legit mental illness. His exact words were that if our pet ever got cancer or some other expensive disease, he would just let it die because “we’re not rich, and that money should go to my future kid. A human child is always more valuable than a cat or dog.” For context, I’m a senior in psych undergrad, so I’ve actually learned what pathology means. To me, calling your dog your baby isn’t a disorder. Unless it’s destroying your life, your finances, or your relationships, it’s just… attachment. Tons of people do it and it’s normal. I told him that if I didn’t have savings, I wouldn’t adopt *either* a kid or a pet. To me that’s just being responsible. But he doubled down saying he “knows better” and that I’m wrong, because in his eyes, treating a dog like your kid is automatically unhealthy. Now I’m sitting here wondering: am I overreacting by getting annoyed? Am I the asshole for pushing back? Or is he the one being extreme by throwing around “pathological” just because his values are different?