For my younger son's 7th birthday-- he begged and pleaded for a pet hamster. I have issues with my children wanting things and myself remembering my childhood and giving in to their wants and needs! Now, I do have a limit-- but it is so overpushed when they look at you with those big eyes, and tell you how they will take care of it, clean up after it, love it, and never have to be reminded of it! This can get one in alot of trouble, I mind you!
So, when I talked to my husband about Henry's need for a pet- He did not even think twice, "Is it alive?" "NO!"-- "Are you out of your mind?". (He grew up with NO pets!) So, I took it upon myself to buy the cage for his 7th birthday.
The day of his party, we allowed that gift to be last, oh he was so excited about getting the cage, that it almost did not matter that there was no animal in it! We took him to the pet store and he picked out his pet hamster. She is a beautiful light tan color with beady red/pink eyes! We bought him a book on how to take care of her, what to feed her, what not to do with her! He named her "Angel".
Now let me explain to you about Henry-- Henry's name means "Ruler of the household, his kingdom! And he lives up to that without a doubt! He even has the favorite color purple--because purple is royalty! So that puts you in mind of where this is heading! My dear sweet, Henry!
Henry-- is the middle child. And everything you have ever read or heard about the middle child-- is SOOOOO-- true! At least, it is with Henry. Henry is super sensitive, smart (he is so smart), caring, and so wishes everyday that he was an only child. Especially, from his younger brother Charlie! Boy-- do the two of them go at it almost everyday! Charlie calls Henry "Dramatic"-- and that really sums up Henry!
So, we bring Angel home, place her in her cage! It was really fun to watch her, go round and round in the wheel. Sit up and listen to her at night, chew and chew through the cage and go round and round in the wheel. Did I mention-- chew all night on the metal cage!
Then a friend gave us some tubes for the cage-- now this was fun. I tried to turn it into an engineering lesson-- how can we make her cage more fun! And as if, 6 different tubes weren't enough-- we ran out to the store and bought--$50.00 more of tubes, an outhouse, look out stations, tube fasteners, a ball... And 3 more girl hamsters. The other boys realizing that I was in a daze, a bad place, looked at me with those eyes, and showed me 3 baby hamsters. So we left the place with over $100 worth of hamster stuff and 3 more baby hamsters. We did not tell my husband! No way-- I would let him in this surprise gently! I would let the children tell him as he came in the door. They would yell out in excitement has he would be tring to get in, pushing the dog out of the way, tripping on the toys in his path, and falling over the kids all at the same time! That to me seemed the best way to approach the situation!
So, now we have 4 hamsters. Angel in her cage, and Ruby (Teddy's hamster), Mary Jesus (Henry's),and Charlie (you guessed it-- Charlie's hamster). Now, the funny part is that Mary Jesus-- kept jumping on the other hamsters-- so by the end of the week I talked him into just Mary. There just seemed something wrong with having a sacred name on a "dirty" hamster who rode the others and she too was a female!
Now-- this story comes to a quick end-- within 3 weeks the stinky 3 hamsters all got ill and died with in 24 hours of each other. Those boys were cleaning their cages everyday-- and they bit them, and were wild little things-- they peed on everything-- yuck! And those tubes, they were off and out the door with in days-- once I realized how stinky they get, and how they drag the food up through them and pee in them (there are holes in them and everything falls through)-- they were off and out!
And so they died of some disease! And to make matters worse-- the dog dug them up and ate them right in front of the kids-- so we walked around after the dog for a couple of days, picked the poor soles out of her poop and reburied them outside the fenced in yard-- we got all of them back, but Charlie! So- for about a week-- they buried all her poop,, just in case!
So, now Angel escapes her safe little domain! She is gone. It was little over 2 weeks. We were putting little treats out for her. Putting her cage on the floor. Nothing seemed to work! Finally, we put her cage back down in the basement! And poor Henry, sobbed everytime he thought of her! It is all that one Mommy could stand! So, last Friday-- I brought home Koda. Koda is a little black bear hamster. I bought him at PetSmart. I went in looking for the $9 girl hamster and came home with the $20+ boy hamster. They know how to work the Momma! The sales girl showed me how you can do anything to this little guy, and how he would nuzzle the chin, and he never-- ever bites! (Angel bit everyone-- except Henry) She even bit Sammy on the nose when he got to close!-- So home came Koda!
Henry was so excited-- he ran to the basement-- set up the cage- the boys were so excited-- they were bonding with this little guy-- even Sammy was holding him (squishing him-- he is not gentle)-- and he never even opened his mouth to bite! We finally put the kids down to bed. They were so excited! And by this point--my husband is not even saying a word-- it was like he thought that I could not hear his head shake and see his eyes roll everytime he passed the cage!
Then we noticed something--- why, yes, there she was--- Angel-- she came up to see or smell what the new "hot" item was in the house! I believe "crap" was the word out of my husbands mouth. It was not the idea of having two-- it was the idea of the Two we had--- Angel-- a girl and Koda-- a boy! And with that Henry remarking of how we needed to get a preacher or priest to the house to get them married-- after all it is around Valentine's Day!
Angel-- now has a brand new chew-through (at least for the time) cage-- and Koda who is on the other side of room is in his!
Happy Valentine's Day!
No comments:
Post a Comment