Friday, January 18, 2013

Promise, Promise, Promise


Day 338
Some houses embrace a no-pet rule. Ours isn’t one of them.  

Over the years, we’ve welcomed lizards, fish, dogs, hermit crabs, fire belly toads, tree frogs, guinea pigs, a bird, and a dwarf hamster.  Whew.  It’s an exhaustive list.  I draw the line at tarantulas.  You have to put down your foot sometimes.  

I believe that kids raised with pets learn responsibility and compassion.  Or I did until we opened our own private zoo. 

The reality differs a bit.  On the upside, I can clean a guinea pig cage in no time flat.  (I mention that in the off chance I need to bulk up my resume.)

While the majority of the animals’ daily care falls to me, the boys do love on those animals.  Sometimes I wonder if I need to file a restraining order.     

All except Fuzzy.  We added a guinea pig to our menagerie three years ago.  “Please, please, please,” the boys begged.  “We promise, promise, promise.” 

My dad once referred to Fuzzy’s cage as “the prison.”  He wasn’t far off the mark: Food and water twice a day and confinement to a small space with little interaction with the outside world. 

“Why don’t you play with Fuzzy?” I suggest.  To my surprise the boys agree.  I credit Rachel, a sweet little girl who joins us in the mornings, for renewing the boys’ interest in their long-forgotten pet.  She often kneels by Fuzzy, talking softly in little-girl-speak while slipping fresh carrots through the slats of his cage. 
 
Whatever the reason, I’m thrilled.  The boys pull her (him?) out to play.  There’s carrot feeding, obstacle runs, a free-form guinea pig dash across the carpet.  

And a promise, promise, promise to play with Fuzzy tomorrow.  

6 comments:

  1. so cute! My hubby and i got a kitten in august and absolutely love her! For my whole life, i had lived in a "no pet home" and now i want to find more and more fur-babies. But there truly is a limit... gota put your foot down!

    -Simone
    PS visiting from Sits!

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    1. The boys love me to read blog posts about them. Today they went to the pet store with my husband and used some of their Christmas money to buy dog bones and a new house for Nick, our Christmas mouse.

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  2. Fuzzy is just so cute! I love guinea pigs! But the only pet we have is one fish. That's enough for now!

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    1. We didn't have much luck with fish. We did have the biggest American bullfrog I've ever seen though. My middle took it over to "visit" our 89-year-old neighbor one day and nearly let it loose in her house by accident. It's a memory I'll never forget!

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  3. What a cutey! I once had one with that similar calico coloring. Her name was Missy. I love your experiment...looking forward to reading older posts and finding out more.

    Coming to you from SITS Saturday Sharefest by the way...

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    1. Santa brought my oldest a dwarf hamster that he named Nick. He's super, super cute but so darn quick he's hard to get out of the cage and into his exercise ball. If one of my kids doesn't grow up to be a vet, I'll be shocked!

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