Over the summer, I housesat for one of my mom's coworkers. They have two dogs, a cat, two fish tanks, and a tortoise.

I had to let the dogs out three times a day, and feed them twice. The cat's litter box needed to be cleaned every day and his food bowl needed filled every so often. Although they were much less needy, the fish and tortoise also needed to be fed every several days at least. I also had to make sure everyone's water was full.

I've never housesat for anyone before, so this was a whole new experience for me. Even though I knew there was a lot to take care of, I was excited to take care of so many pets for a couple of weeks.

Living with all of these animals, however, made me realize a few things about myself.

For starters, I'm really vain and selfish. I knew this before, but I didn't realize it was so intense.

I had to wake up early for work, but this meant that it was necessary for me to wake up at least an hour earlier than I normally did so that I could feed and let the dogs out. I hated it.

I also realized that I definitely never want to own a dog of my own one day. Don't get me wrong, I loved the dogs (they're adorable and cute), but they're kind of like babies - only cute if you can give them back.

Dogs just aren't for me. They have way too much energy, and all they want to do is soak up 100% of your time, money, energy, and attention.

The cat was okay, though. I'll probably end up getting a cat sometime after college.

Realization number three, however, came to me when I was cleaning the litter box one day. I love cats, but I think it's best if I wait to get one until I am much older. When I was considering all of this information about the time, money and energy spent on pets, I began to think about how much more a new little human would take.

That's when panic began to settle in.

I'm not pregnant (HA), but I feel a lot like how Robin does in "How I Met Your Mother." The whole "settling down" and "making a family" makes me want to hyperventilate or vomit.

It might just be my age, that's what my mom always says, but this could also be something that is just a big part of who I am. During all of this thinking, I made up a new rule:

No pets or kids until after I turn thirty.

That way I have at least one more decade to myself; with nothing holding me down, more free time and money, and nothing to worry about except myself.

Let's hope I stick to it.