Lesson Not Learned

Oops, we did it again. First, a little background. Tim is very allergic to both dogs and cats, and I have always said that this is just one of the many reasons I know he is the right guy for me. Let's just say I am mentally allergic to dogs and cats and, really, and any other pet. Nevertheless, we have still had birds, fish, hermit crabs, and most notably, hamsters way back in 2006. Here's a journal entry describing that memorable experience:

"Well, I knew all along we were not, shall we say, 'pet people.' But we succumbed to the boys’ pleading and surprised them by driving to the pet store (amidst much shrieking for joy when we arrived!) and purchasing the hamsters and all their paraphernalia the weekend before Tristan turned 9 and Gavin turned 5. The entire weekend they were beside themselves with joy and excitement."

"Honestly, by the time their b-days arrived (W/Th), the excitement had already petered down a bit. Well, this week we said good-bye to the hamsters—having made it nearly three months with pets. Tristan proved himself entirely responsible and was great about feeding them and cleaning their cage once a week. But both boys had many other priorities (like soccer), and those poor hamsters never got a chance to get out of their cage except when it was being cleaned. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to them, other than to move them to the bathroom at night because they were so darn noisy that the boys couldn’t sleep. And can we talk about the stench???? Even with the super deluxe bedding material that was supposed to mask the smell, our entire house was starting to reek. I couldn’t even go in the boys’ room without wanting to gag. It took a little while to convince Gavin (Tristan was easier since he was the cleaning guy), but since we gave them away, I haven’t noticed anyone at all missing Henry and Harry. As for myself, I cleaned, polished, and sprayed odor-out spray everywhere, and I just go around sniffing the “No More Hamsters” smell with a sense of thrill. The nice thing is the girl that took them was utterly thrilled and right away was reaching in to hold them (which always terrified our boys). In addition, her mom felt it was essential that she pay something for them (much to my objection) to increase her sense of responsibility toward them. So each of the boys got five dollars, which eased the pain of giving away their birthday gifts."

Passing Henry and Harry on to their new owner.

"If we have learned this lesson for good, it was well worth the initial investment of $100! After they were gone, Gavin said, “I know what pet we could have!” I said, “What?” and he said, 'A pet we make, like we draw or something. Because it wouldn’t smell, and we wouldn’t have to feed it or clean it…' I told him that was the best idea ever." (4/02/06)

Alas, did we learn this lesson for good? No, we did not. 

Caden and his new best friend, Monty.