First, there was Mr. Mommy. Mr. Mommy was a beta fish, shoved onto us by an over-eager and bored aquarium rep on Martha's Vineyard. Despite taking almost no true care of Mr. Mommy, he (or she) did quite well and we passed him along to our friends before moving to San Diego. The kids never really missed him, though Louise did as she ended up doing the lion-share of Mr. Mommy care. (I think there's some irony in there somewhere....)
Second was Sharky. Teia has always been the Zoo-fanatic and pressed us for pets from the minute she could speak. We thought a fish might help ease her into the world of animal care and gave her a beta fish of her own, which she named "Sharky". After about a 36hr flurry of tapping, gazing, cooing, and emptying two full containers of beta-food into a 1gal tank, the interest quickly waned and the day-to-day care went to, again, Louise. I did some of the tank cleaning, which was a tremendous effort for a single fish the size of my thumb. Needless to say, not too many tears were shed when we gave away Sharky to another friend before leaving for Victoria.
Since we've been in Victoria, Teia has honed her pet plan down to details that would make a small country jealous. First, there will be a bunny. Then, 2 days after the bunny dies, there will be a cat. Then after the cat dies, there will be a dog. Then a bird. Then a horse (I presume she's not waiting for the dog to die before moving on; she'll already be approaching 30 if the bunny & cat live to their expected lifespans!) Not only is this mapped out in great detail, this has come into play while searching for houses:
"We can't get this house, dad, there's no room for the horse. We'll have to move to another house before we get the horse, dad. Or you could build the stables over there, dad."
"Well, Teia, that's someone else's house over there."
"That's OK, dad, they'll love the horse too."
Anyway, the horse is a long way off. With any luck, she'll be at least 10yrs on her own before we reach the horse purchase life event. But the bunny purchase was looming large. We had already promised Teia a bunny about a year earlier. It was partially to sweeten the deal over moving to Victoria and also to hope she would stop asking us for a bunny while in San Diego (between the black widows, rattlesnakes, raccoons, hawks, and coyotes, we were pretty sure any bunny was doomed). Alas, our little elephant never forgot our promise, and as October rolled around, we knew we had to get into high gear to purchase a bunny. Louise did some extensive research, we debated the pro's and con's of floppy vs straight-eared bunnies, found some litters that had just been born, and found one that would turn 8 wks old right at Teia's birthday. After a couple visits to get Teia used to the little guy and I'm sure for the owners to ensure the bunny was going to good new family, it was time.
I introduce to you, the Fifth Fennell, Snuggles.
Snuggles has fit in quite nicely. And Teia is still vibrating with excitement. As soon as she has to go out, she moans "I miss Snuggles SOOOOO much!" I fear I see the foreshadowing of teenage puppy love angst already. Replace "Snuggles" with "John" or "Tim" and we're in for a long teen drama in 10 yrs....
But she's also shown good instincts so far, and Kai has also shown interest in Snuggles. Kai would still like a yellow lab, however, to be named School Bus, about 2 days after we move into our new house.
What's with this "2 day" thing, anyway? Can't our kids grieve for at least a month after the death of their rabbit before getting a cat? Or enjoy a new house for a few months before adding a house-wrecking hound to the mix?
Welcome to the family, Snuggles. And good luck.
1 comment:
Greg, your posts always make me smile! Such a great sense of humour and a gift with the written word.
Mom and Poppa Mike
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