We got a pet mouse yesterday.
We (everyone except Robin) had been looking around for a new little pet and couldn’t quite decide.
I (Erica) had printed out info on little pets, but we weren’t quite sure what to do.
After lots of looking around, the boys and I headed home where I found a good deal on Craigslist.
$10 for a mouse and all the accessories! I figure this is a win-win. They get a pet, it doesn’t cost much and if bad comes to worse, we let our little friend run away in fields of green. Problem solved.
Well, we went to pick up the mouse that afternoon. The girl said to give her an hour. Suspicious? Nah.
So, an hour later we go pick up such a sweet little mouse.
The young college girl and her friend come out carrying our newly treasured family addition.
“Here you go” she proclaims. “Sometimes he scratches a lot and looks kind of nappy, but he is good”
“Oh, and you might want to use a washcloth the first time they hold him, just in case he is nervous, I wouldn’t want them to get bit.”
Did she just refer to a mouse as “nappy”? This is were the red flag pops up, but apparently it didn’t wave hard enough because we were full steam ahead.
“Oh, look how cute!”
We got home, got the new little creature set up in the boys bedroom.
Bedtime rolled around and we headed upstairs to their bedroom.
Except for one minor problem. The room REEKED of cute little mouse pee. The puzzle pieces are now coming together. Mouse, $10, cage and all.
Within about 15 minutes our new little addition got moved to the garage.
At this point, we aren’t sure what will become of “spider man/peter parker”, but for now he resides in the garage.
So, tonight at dinner, the eight year old is devising a plan on how to oust the new little friend, while his brother is figuring out how to add other animals.
The six year old says “let’s get a bird!”
The eight year old says “Poppa, let’s get fish!”
At that moment, my precious husband gets up from the table walks to the carpet and assumes the fetal position.
All I hear is “WHY PEOPLE! ”
I begin laughing hysterically.
Our dog “Pearl”
If you have ever seen Beethoven the movie, you can just insert my husband as the main guy. Minus the miserable attitude, his general feelings toward animals are spot on.
You see, I grew up with a mom that let me harbor almost any animal I could think of.
Here is the list:
Fish
Birds
Lizards
Hedgehog
Dogs
Cats
Pot bellied pig
So, needless to say, I feel like my kids should at least have the opportunity to have a pet, or two, or three.
My poor husband.
Kennady on the other hand is down with whatever animal we choose, as long as it lets her bite it.
We really needed a pic of the fetal position. 🙂
Oh, by the way, I will give mice away free…minus the cage. 🙂
Ha!!
Erica, you crack me up! “Reeked of cute little mouse pee” and “wouldn’t want them to get bit” have officially sealed the deal for this anti-pet mom! You almost had me convinced to get on board the other day because I felt guilty for depriving my kids.
Not any more! My girls will have to just live vicariously through visiting your garage mouse 🙂
You might want to check your van. We put the cage in there as you were leaving last night!!
The only possible good thing that could come from that is how much fun it would be to plot my revenge!
Haha
If they want a critter get a rat. Contrary to what you might think, their pee does not smell. They actually make great pets!
Are you sure????
Karen – we actually almost got one. We ended up finding this one on craigslist though and just went that route. We may need to reconsider 🙂
I would also add to the list of animals that I had.
Gerbils
Hamsters
Rabbits
Ferret
Erica,
You are so funny. I love reading your blogs.
Mice pee, unfortunately, does have a strong odor. When i was a teenage, i use to purchase mice from the pet store to save them from the snakes. Lets just say that was a bad idea. Lol if you want to get rid of the mouse, some pet stores buy them. Have you considered a dwarf hamster? Just as small, a lot less odor.
I am beginning to see a business oportunity here. At 10 bucks a pop I could rid the farm of a bunch of pesky critters and pay for that new church. How about scorpions? They don’t have smelly pee, eat crickets and I just happen to have a few extra that I could let go for about $15 a head.
Good idea!