"We Should Have Raised Puppies"

I remember as a kid when my brother/sister and/or I would fight my dad would say this. I now know it wasn't meant to sound mean or hurtful, it was a way for him to express how hurt, frustrated, and hopeless he must have felt because he couldn't figure out how to get his children to stop squabbling; but puppies could be put into separate kennels.
Now I've got kids of my own, and there have been a few times I've turned to my husband and said,"We should have raised puppies".