Gerbils and Jammies

This weekend Rachel was chosen to bring home the class pets, two gerbils named Icy and Speedy. I was very worried that one of the kids would drop one and it would run away to never be seen again. That is until it found the stuff the exterminator sprays every three months to keep us bug free. Then we would have to go to the pet store to try to find an identical one so Rachel wouldn't be known as the kid who killed the class pet. I'm not sure if the spray would really kill something as large as a gerbil, but I really didn't want to find out the hard way.

I grew up with pets. We always had a dog. There was the time my brother adopted the stray cat. He was named Tiger and then we realized he was a she when he had kittens on the back step. I remember catching a turtle that we kept in an old cooler. There was at least one hamster and a pair of guinea pigs. We had at least one parakeet.. As the family folklore goes, the parakeet would bite and I encouraged my cousin Mike to stick his finger in the cage. Luckily, my mom overheard.

P.K. didn't grow up with pets so he isn't crazy about having one. I don't mind them, but I don't want them on me. P.K. and I had a parakeet when we were first married. The kids had fish for a while we were living in California, but I couldn't keep them alive. They also had hermit crabs, but we didn't want to try to move them cross country so we gave them away. The kids are constantly begging for a pet. I think Hannah almost has her daddy talked into one. Aaron has a list of the types of snakes he wants to buy. The landlord does not allow pets in the house so we can't have one for now. We bent the rule just for the weekend.

It turned out just fine. Rachel was very responsible and cleaned up after the gerbils who loved to throw their purple shredded bedding out of the cage.

Meet Speedy

and Icy.

Each of the gerbils had a ball to run in. They could really get them going on the hardwood floor. The kids had gerbil races.

Where do the Jammies come in? Hannah had "Wear Your Pajamas to School Day" yesterday. She asked why I have to take a picture when she has a special day at school. I wanted to say, "Because I carried you for nine months, had morning sickness for almost 4 months and was cut in half to bring you into this world and I will take your picture whenever I please. " But I went with, "Because it is fun and I want to have a picture."


I should also mention that P.K. made it home on Friday night. It was a long three weeks. He was able to come home Halloween weekend, but it still seemed like a very long time. He is not allowed to go out of town again until I have at least one friend here.