Hamster

This is our hamster.

I had a long, rough summer. It seemed to go on and on and there was no structure and I had a sick aunt and other family losses. So, the day before school started, Mama Wallis enjoyed herself a bit much at the celebratory family dinner. It was at a Mexican restaurant (that is code for -- I had a margarita......or two.)

During dinner Lindsay asked for a fish and I said, "Sure!" Jonathan asked if he could have a hamster and I said, "Sure!"

The next day I had to do some damage control.

The fish is easy since I save all the fish accouterments for these moments when I sign myself up for yet more work. I've learned that Betas require the least amount of water changes and seem pretty hard to kill. However, for the stinky rat, I decided there would be many more hoops to jump through.

First I made Jonathan research hamsters and report back to me. He had to answer questions:
What do I have to do to take care of a hamster?
Name three reasons hamsters are good pets.
Name three reasons hamsters are not good pets.
What is the best breed of hamster for me to have as a pet and why.
He loved the project.

I also decided he needed to save his money and buy everything for the hamster. He counted up all of his money and started doing chores to earn the rest. I think the start-up costs came to something like $60+!

Of course the other kids started clamoring for a hamster so I quickly made a rule that you have to be nine years old to have a hamster. I spent plenty of my time as a kid cleaning out my hamster cage and don't want to ever spend my time like that again. Really, a hamster is the perfect pet to teach a kid some responsibility since they can do and afford 100% of the care.

Jonathan decided on the breed and sex of the hamster (Teddy Bear/male.) Of course when we went to buy the hamster, there were no Teddy Bear hamsters and they were all girls. The good news was that in two short days they would have a new crop of hamsters. The bad news is that two days is an eternity for a kid on the brink of becoming a pet parent. Therefore, we came back home with a short haired gal.

My first impression...I loved this little thing. It is quite possible that I was as excited as Jonathan AND I didn't have to part with my hard earned cash to relieve my childhood. However, in my excitement, it didn't occur to me to exchange the hamster that chewed her way out of the box before we even got to the cash register. Jonathan finally named her Biscuit. It should be Houdini. She is strong. She is willful. She breaks free from her cage twice a week and I have to look for her.

Last week she was nowhere to be found, but Superdog Sadie kept scratching the Tinkertoy box. Lo and behold, there she was! Last night Jason had to get up and care for some screaming child. He noticed an odd shape on the floor and there she was! Sometimes Sadie acts like a hamster herder and will alert us to where she has cornered Biscuit. It's all good, but I can guarantee you that one day Sadie will not be able to resist gnawing on her a bit (sadly this knowledge is based on a mouse babysitting gig that went horribly wrong.) That will NOT be a good day 'cause I don't do dead things.