May. 1, 2008 - New Pets for the Kids
Well, after much nagging, begging and pleading (on the kids' part), I finally allowed the kids to get their own pets. Their first request was for a ferret. I declined and did not waiver. So, we've come to an agreement and it's for a Betta fish, one per child. They are both quite excited and all ready to be responsible pet owners. We'll see how long that lasts. My DD, Haley, has had a Betta fish or two before and did pretty well with the upkeep, but I did have to strongly remind her on occasion to clean the tank. She's older now, so hopefully I won't have to do that. My DS, however, is only eight, and has never had a fish before. He promises that he will be responsible, but he has said the same thing about keeping his room clean. He does a fairly decent job with his room, but from time to time he too, has to be strongly reminded. My DS did have a squirrel one time. He found a baby squirrel in a bush. He and his dad brought the squirrel home and we tried very hard to nurse it and raise it. It only lived a week or two, though. That was a heartbreaker. I think the worst thing about the kids having pets is the heartbreak over them dying, and that is pretty much inevitable. I know it's part of learning, but it's the not-so-fun part of learning. Well, Haley decided to name her Betta "Jalapeno" because he is red (yes, I told her that jalapenos are green, but she said it's still a pepper. I dunno, maybe there are red jalapenos). Dawson has named his Bubble Ball - go figure! So, wish my kids well with their new venture.
'Til next time... God bless!
Comments
May. 1, 2008 - Pet killer... :)
Posted by Anonymous
If you don't know about our family (this is "lapsebraindead" by the way... Tony), we're very good at adopting, raising, and then killing the poor creatures. Once a kid mowing our lawn uncovered a baby rabbit nest (yes, it was that bad in the back yard). We should have simply left it alone, and the mom bunny would likely have returned, but we found that out after taking in the four baby bunnies. Well, Ninfa nursed them from tiny bottles with rabbit formula from the pet store for days (weeks?), and they were getting to where they could start eating some greens, so she had the kids bring them some greens to eat. The next morning two were dead and two were acting very odd, and by the end of the day they were dead. Turns out the kids got the greens from the side of the driveway where I'd just put ant poison... (I think we should raise ants - they seem to do pretty well in and around our home on their own!).
Another time she found a baby bird in the middle of the road, and asked L (our daughter) to bring it home (she was on her way somewhere and didn't have time to stop, but didn't want the baby bird to get run over). So, again, we raised this little critter, feeding it stuff and then eventually slivers of ground beef and orange (or something). It got to where it was starting to fly a bit, and we tried to get it to go away into the wild, but it kept following us around with its head up and beak open, so we brought it back inside. Well, we were keeping it in a box with a towel over the top (to keep it from jumping/flying up & out of the box), and apparently the towel wasn't put on there well, and it hopped out. The phone rang, R (our third child) wasn't aware that the bird was out and hopped up off the couch to answer the phone, and landed flat on the bird. Ninfa called me at work, and the bird was holding its head at this weird angle... but by the time I got home it was dead.
So, there you go: we rescue baby animals, nurse them to health & maturity, and then kill 'em (unintentionally, mind you). :)
