We broke down. I confess we really lost our minds yesterday and bought M. a guinea pig. She has been DYING for one for some time now. Everyday the sell gets a little more hard core. "Is it mostly a yes or mostly a no- just tell me, and you can always change your mind. But mostly a yes, right?" Apparently we gave her sisters the pets of their dreams- their very own pets, with fur or feathers. Technically, yes, we let K. get a parakeet and L. get a bunny- about 6 years ago. Both these pets lasted less than 6 months in our house, leaving simultaneously on Super Bowl Sunday. One went to a kindergarten teacher (the bunny, Mr. Whiskers) and one went to the big aviary in the sky (Tinkerbell). So M. has been lobbying for "her very own pet" all summer. First we said when K. went to college, buying ourselves a year to talk her out of it. Then it was when she turned 8, again buying 6 months at least. H. even showed her a YOUTUBE video of a guinea pig being eaten by a snake ( and a lot of cute g.p. videos too!) He pointed out how our two dogs had caught a baby rabbit in our yard and uh, shall we say, played with it to DEATH! He asked her to remember the sound of the bunny in the dog's mouth (like a squeaky toy, in case you are interested). M. was still convinced she needed and wanted a g.p. more than anything else, EVER! So on Saturday, we visited the pet store to get some fish and dog supplies. We spent one hour "looking" at all things guinea. I left dragging M. away in tears, telling me how unfair it was that she did not get her own pet (not including the 5 frogs she has had and 3 fish, and 2 family dogs). So, she wanted to go back to the pet store on Sunday to actually hold a g.p. and make sure I was not allergic to them. This was a very thought out plan. She wanted both H. and I to be there. So we went. We held a g.p. and yes it was cute, even seemed to have some personality. There was a much cheaper one too- a resue g.p. So I thought we should at least consider this one too. We asked to hold it but M. was not able too and I barely could keep the deranged thing in my hands either. Once we put her back in the cage she ran around like a possessed creature. Turns out that one had been dropped on her head. So we paid three times as much for the nice, docile, tri-colored female. M. thanked and hugged me a million times before leaving the pet store and told me she couldn't believe she had her very own g.p. (yeah, right!). Zoe made an excellent transition to our home and M.'s room with a mansion of a cage, her personal hot pink igloo, toys, water bottle, treats, hay, and bedding.
P.S. Oh, one of the reasons we opted for the g.p. instead of a smaller hamster or gerbil was because those guys are nocturnal and we did not need anything disturbing our sleep. Well, on night one with Zoe, I was up until 12:30 am with M. who was convinced the dogs were going to get her new pet/best friend. She was having nightmares about all that stuff her dad told her about the snake, the bunny and our sweet spaniels. Thanks honey!
