We re-entered the pet sub-culture about a year ago. Previously, Steve and I had 2 parakeets, Lamont and Lola. We had a few madcap misadventures with Lamont [clipping his toe nails, accidentally pulling his tail feathers out and letting him fly around the inside of an enclosed car], but had calmed down by the time we got Lola, so named as the bird turned out to be a male. Thanks to The Kinks for making naming the She-Male so easy.
Seems that our pet calamity is genetic. Jill got her first legitimate pet about a year ago...Freddy, the beta fish. He was a beautiful shade of blue and she actually took interest in feeding him for about 2 weeks. Freddy kind of lost his luster until Jill realized that if she was alone and could push her stool up to the counter, she could PLAY with Freddy. Needless to say, Freddy didn't tolerate their playdates for long.
After buckets of tears and sobs for forgiveness, we welcomed Freddy II into the house. This Freddy is a girl Freddy, though.
Since Freddy II's arrival, we've added a collection of anole lizards [both purchased and captured] and a wild juvenile skink, to the Lizard Habitat. All of this collecting and observing really feeds Jill's need for information on animals and fosters her lightning quick hand-eye coordination, at least, that's how I'm justifying it...plus, Steve cleans the cage.
However, I'm drawing the line here...
Somehow, Jill has learned about corn snakes and likes to remind me that they don't bite. "But you know what I really want, Mom? A python."
Me: "I don't think that a python is a good pet for our family"
Jill [whining]: "But why?"
Me: "Well, they are really big. And they like to eat small living things. So, having one would not be safe for Lizzie and you. Dad and I don't want you to get eaten by a snake."
Jill [contemplative]: "Well, I'll just train it not to eat us."
Me: "How about we go to the Snake Farm [this is Texas, people] next weekend and take a look at the snakes and ask the Snake Farmer if a python is good or bad for a family with a baby and a 4 year old?"
Jill: "OK, Mom. That's a good idea!"
Continue to pray for our sanity.
1 comment:
I was hoping her snake-love would have gone away by now. I remember babysitting her over two years ago and she made me read that damn snake book repeatedly. Given that I have a dreaded fear of snakes, that was a tough book for me. :)
Maybe you can call the snake Indy, after Indiana Jones.
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