hamsters

Our poor pet-deprived boys have been begging for something, anything, to have as a pet. I had pets growing up (a house cat mostly), and in my 20's found that I am so allergic to all cats/dogs/horses, etc. that I can't even hardly be in the same room with them without my skin itching and my eyes watering like crazy. Last year I started those allergy shots, in hopes they might help keep me sane around pets (I'm also allergic to weeds and certain trees).

The boys keep asking when will I be done with the allergy shots so they can get a dog. Hmm, maybe...never. I don't have anything against dogs, and I know the boys would all love one, but there's the maintenance, and what to do with it when you go out of town, etc. Anywho, Ben had been begging for a hamster, partially because his friend down the street, Danielle, has one. We decided to try it out, after a few conditions were met. So about a month ago, I was gone to YW one night, and Daren took the boys shopping at Petco, and this is what they brought home... ...and not just one hamster. The sales guy said the hamster would be lonely if it was by itself, so they got two. And the works. Ben set up a name guesser, so everyone would have a chance at putting in their good ideas for names.
The winning names were Lightning Speed and Berry. Lightning got his name because he was always a fast runner when he was let out on the ground. I'm not sure about Berry.
And of course, there have to be rules around the hamsters, especially the "no screaming." All Ben's doing.
Everyone had so much fun looking at them...
...and holding them (like a proud papa!)

And this is how I left them when I went to Hawaii. All happy. All alive. I left on a Wednesday, and that night I got a text from Daren, saying Lightning Speed had died. Apparently Daren was outside mowing the lawn and Jake got Lightning out to see if he could swim in the bathroom sink downstairs. (This was totally against the rules, because they were supposed to ask a parent before getting them out--this stemmed from losing Berry a couple nights before I left when Will got him out, and I didn't find him until the next morning) Nobody but Jake knows all the details of how it happened, but Lightning drowned and Ben and Daren didn't find him until later. It was awful, and I felt bad I wasn't there to help console Ben. He took it real hard and cried a lot. And this was the FIRST night I was gone. What else could go wrong?! Ben held a funeral that Saturday for Lightning Speed and invited all the kids in the neighborhood to come, and apparently he had Danielle video tape it, but I haven't watched all of it yet. He was very sensitive about the whole incident--his old science teacher, Mrs. Perkins, would be been proud of him!

A few days later Berry died as well. Too much love we think. He had a broken leg and one of his eyes was not well. They are both buried in the backyard, and our experiment with pets has come to a quick close. I've had offers of other pets, including a gecko, but for now I think we will keep it as it is, and enjoy all the neighbor's pets around us. It's cheaper, less hassle, and for me with allergies, a lot more easy to breathe.

For Ben's take, he wrote a blog about it to at:
http://usingmyimagination.blogspot.com/2009/10/hamster-life-and-death.html