I don’t like rodents. At all. But, I love my kids.
Abby has been asking begging for a hamster for well over a year now. I’ve always unequivocally said no. She started to get through to Tock at the end of summer though, and he felt like it would be a good lesson in responsibility for her. All I was thinking was about how the little bugger would break out of its cage and crawl into my bed and lay eggs in my ear– or whatever it is hamsters do. Even my mom was on board telling me it was like a rite of passage and reminded me that we had guinea pigs when I was younger (which I was 100% legitimately allergic to). But all I could remember was my brother’s two hamsters, Harley and Davidson, who mated and had millions of babies and then ate them for dinner (but not before those babies could mate with each other and deliver more disgusting mutant hamster babies). But like I’ve talked about before, Abby (and all of our kids) need to write their own chapters of their story, and just because I hate rodents doesn’t mean I have to deprive my kids (even though I really, really, really want to). So, I started entertaining the possibility and told Abby that if she could prove she was responsible enough, she could maybe get a hamster for her 9th birthday, but that Tock and I were not going to clean the cage or buy hamster food/toys/presents.
She blew us away. I mean, she was so genuinely trying to earn hamster merits that she started researching ‘hamster care’ and even wrote us a report about it. Then she drew up a contract about how she would take care of it, and how she would even share it with her siblings (with a footnote that said, only when they asked nicely). Pretty impressive. We talked to friends who begged us not to do it, and other friends who said we were over thinking things and to just do it. Soooooo….. yesterday we completely shocked the pants off her by getting her the hamster a few weeks early (Tock’s idea so that she would be suprised). I wish I knew how to post video on this blog, because I’d love to share the joy that radiated off her with everyone. She named her Daisy, and she is in love. I’m not touching/loving/holding/petting/cuddling/cleaning/doting on that thing. But even I can admit she’s slightly cute.
Last night I peeked into Abby’s room because I heard her talking, well past her bedtime. Here’s what I found (iphone picture, that I tried to spruce up for the blog):
O My! How cute is this! My kids had all the critters growing up. And yes, it is a right of passage. I remember a particularly “houdinish” hamster named Bud. He would get out of his cage, (no matter how we thought it was secure) get down off the shelf, walk PAST our sleeping Chow Chow mean ‘ol dog and into my bedroom. On night my husband was sleeping on the floor because of a bad back (sure it was!), and Bud crawled up onto his chest. We didn’t know it was Bud until David mentioned he felt something crawling on him and “brushed” it off. Thought it may have been a mouse until we saw the empty cage. We found Bud perfectly fine on the other side of a large bedroom curled into a ball asleep. Moral to this story is double lock that cage, or better yet and invisible fence for Abby’s room.
Reminds me if an Easter, many years ago,when I brought back 3 rabbits,Podie,Vinnie and Alexander had won them at an the Easter egg hunt. That was in March…by August we had 67 bunnies.
Good luck with just one hamster…:-)
Great story and sweet picture. Just a reminder of how the little things often bring so much more happiness than the big things. Please keep us posted on the “daisy” diaries!
DeeDee you do have a gift for making me laugh.
Thank you
This is my favorite picture of all time. Cute is not a good enough word to describe it. I love the image of laying eggs in your ear…
But I have to say, better you than me.
Love, T