This weekend my nephews transferred custody of their guinea pig, Theodora (a.k.a. Teddi) to my children. Due to being middle school aged boys with an attention span of approximately seventeen seconds at a time, they had forgotten they owned a guinea pig. Their father told them they would have to give her away, and me with a ridiculously soft heart said, "Sure, we'd love to have her." Oh goody! Just what I needed--another pet that requires more attention than my children will probably give. She is a sweetie, but I can already tell that she will require much more maintenance than the Killer, our cannibal guppy and slightly less than Gus, the dog from Hell. The only animals in the house that give me any respect or peace are my cats and that's primarily because they ignore me most of the time unless they are hungry or want the odd moment of affection. I love my kitties, they make the perfect pets. You have to love any animal that shows such classic restraint and good manners as a cat.
So far, our menagerie now includes one fish, one dog, three cats and a guinea pig. I don't know what has happened to my husband but he has seemed to grow more mellow in his old age. If he is this easy at 43, God help us all when he hits his fifties. I keep expecting, nah...really hoping, he puts his foot down and says, "Not another animal!" but he hasn't yet. I know I am weak when it comes to any furry, cute, breathing thing, but he should have more backbone. I count on him to keep my empathy and animal-love in check. The dude is seriously slacking these days in the non-animal lover department.
The kids, as usual, have fallen completely in love with their new pet. I hope this adoration lasts long enough that they continue to take care of her well. In this instance, I am going to put my foot down and require them to take on the entire responsibility for her maintenance and well-being. As we all know, the dog has fallen upon me to ensure his survival (the poor thing), but I will not cave on the guinea pig. I am drawing my line in the sand. Besides, the children really could use this as a step towards becoming more responsible and more other-centered. Loving and caring for something makes you a better person and a more thoughtful person.
My kids are pretty good in regard to thinking of others and they have improved quite a bit on helping around the house, keeping things tidy and initiating their own clean up operations. Nonetheless, they still have a long way to go, but I have faith that they will get there eventually. I think Teddi will be the perfect learning opportunity for them. She's going to be messy, I know already. In less than twenty-four hours I have found pine chip bedding stewn from one end of the house to the other, but oh well....the more the merrier. Adding more love to the house is never a bad thing, even if it means a little more work. Love compensates exceedingly well for increased housework. Seriously, though, I am really hoping the husband gives a resounding "No!" on our next animal adventure. If left to my own devices, who knows what kind of zookeepers my kids will become?
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