Yesterday my granddaughter and I went to a pet store, as we often do. Currently, she's in love with the idea of a hamster and a beta fish. What she really wants is a kitten or another bunnie to mate with hers, but she's ten now and has figured a few things out. She tries to keep her desire for a menagerie damped down. Her mother dislikes cats, so that's not going to happen. So she's thinking little. I, as usual, spent time with the birds. I'm fascinated and disturbed by them. It seems unbearably cruel to keep a bird from flying. Flying is their whole essence. My granddaughter was in raptures also over a guinea pig. We spent an hour there, coming out with a spongebob ceramic house for her goldfish and a bag of treats for her bunnie. On the way out she said she wished her parents could let her have a hamster.
I said, "Maybe they don't want to add another chore to their list. Don't they do most of the caring for the bunnie, dog and goldfish?"
She admitted her mom walked the dog. I asked who fed her and bought the food and took her to the vet? Her parents. She wished her parents would let the bunnie be in her room, but the hatch had been so expensive, she couldn't ask.
I suggested maybe if she did all the tasks for the three pets she had, maybe they'd be more amenable to the idea of another animal.
It was as if a light bulb had gone off. "Yeah, if I take really good care of my dog, then they might let me". She had a plan.
I reminded her than when she grew up and had her own place she could have as many pets as she wanted. But right now, she was awfully busy and gone all day at school, so having pets was tricky. "And your parents both work too and have your three year old sister to attend to".
She's ten, and seemed to have reached the age of reason. She was thinking. She asked for a smoothie and we changed the subject.
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