Yesterday, Lacey, my 3 year old, found 2 small frogs at daycare. I’m sure you have seen this type hopping around, they are probably less than 1 inch in length. Of course she catches them and calls them her friends. She also doesn’t understand how fragile a 1 inch frog is, and she almost immediately kills it, so now she has a limp frog, which is still special to her. This means they have to come home with us. Now, I didn’t pick her up yesterday. Mike did, and I guess she refused to get in the car, until he let her put the dead frogs in her backpack.
When she got home she was SO EXCITED. (I am going to stop right here and tell you that I refuse to think about the fact that she was carrying around dead frogs, and then eating a snack, with her hands, on the way home. Note: keep antibacterial wipes in the car). She couldn’t wait to show me the frogs. I must have thought “tell”, but she indeed meant “show” so when she reached into her backpack clutching the dead frogs, I nearly had a heart attack.
I’m not sure what scared her more, the fact that I was screaming about 2 dead frogs she was clutching, or the fact that I was telling her they were dead. It was very traumatizing for all of us. Lots of raised, freaked out voices, and crying ensued. Finally Mike forced her to release her grip of death on the frogs, and into the trash they went. And I forced her and miles to the bathroom to scrub those little hands, a few times. She was so sad, because these were her special friends and she loved them. She wanted to take care of them.
So that made me think that we should get a pet.
A goldfish- cheap, but she would probably try to carry it around, therefore killing it. And I know I can’t handle another dead creature in her hands. Plus I have visions of fighting over who gets to feed the fish (or secretly feeding the fish when I am out of the room and fish flakes and a spilled fish bowl everywhere).
A hamster/guinea pig- also cheap. I don’t want to clean a cage though, and I certainly don’t want to have an animal that can get lost in my house, not into finding a dead hamster under the couch! Or, for that matter, I am not into an animal that can die if it accidentally gets stepped on. Pretty likely in my house.
A cat- I don’t like cats.
A dog- expensive, but we want one anyway, maybe now? Then I started reading about leaving them alone during the day, the cost, the risk that even the best kid-friendly dogs, may never really be kid friendly, it’s a chance you take. Plus, puppies are a ton of work, but I read if you have kids it’s best to have the dog introduced to them as a puppy. I have visions of chewing and jumping going on. Not sure I am okay with that. Then what size of dog. I want a smaller dog, like 15 pounds. Mike wants a dog he can run with. I want a smaller dog so it can’t knock over the kids as easily, mike thinks the kids would hurt the small dog accidentally. I want a golden doodle, but they are over $1000. I thought about going with a golden retriever, but apparently they shed a lot. Ugh. Dog on hold.
I asked Lacey last night when I was putting her to bed if she wanted a pet to take care of. “Yes!” She said. “ I want a unicorn.” I started to tell her that unicorns can’t be pets, when she interrupted me and said “I want a purple unicorn pillow pet.”
I’m sold.
No comments:
Post a Comment