I may, or may not, have mentioned earlier this spring that Amy became enamored with a couple of frogs she saw in a toy store. They were in a medium sized cube that contained their own eco-system. She was completely sure that she WANTED these frogs. Knowing her 3rd grade teacher loved frogs might have had something to do with her desire. So, she started saving her money.
A month or so later, her best friend got a hamster. Which somehow, someway led Amy away from wanting the frogs to wanting a guinea pig. I do not know how that connection came to be, all I know is for a month or more Amy talked almost daily about getting a guinea pig. She'd received some birthday money, so her savings was growing a bit. Then a week or so ago, she told Oma, our friend who lives across the street, that she wanted a guinea pig.
Oma wrinkled her nose and said quite emphatically, oh no, you don't. Amy said, yes, I do, Oma. Then Oma proceeded to tell her how stinky they were and if Amy got a guinea pig, she wouldn't watch it when Amy was away. But, she would watch a hamster. Then she proceeded to tell us a story about a hamster her daughter had. One day unbeknownst to Oma, her daughter let the hamster out of the cage to wander the house. Oma was cleaning house...with the vacuum, and quite by accident sucked the hamster up the hose! Oh my, she was laughing and we were laughing so hard. Apparently the white hamster was quite dusty, but still alive after that adventure! Amy had no idea guinea pigs were stinky, and decided then she wanted a hamster!
I'd been talking to Hattie's mom, Susi about the hamster and she informed me that we should go to a particular pet store (not a chain) because they had a hamster population explosion and were selling them for $1.99 a piece! For that price we thought about getting one for Jessica, but she doesn't want one. Now, we needed a cage. Amy's been scouring the internet looking for cages that didn't cost an arm and a leg.
When we were at the pool on Friday, she was telling one of the lifeguards how she was going to get a hamster as soon as she found a cage. It turned out that this lifeguard's family was having a garage sale this past weekend and they had a cage! So, we went to go take a look. For $10 Amy got the cage, which included a running wheel, a water bottle, a food bowl, plus a ball to put the hamster in outside of the cage AND a huge box full of bedding! Score! So, yesterday afternoon we headed to the pet store and came home with Pam.
Yes, the hamster's name is Pamela, or Pam or Pammie. Amy just likes that name. We are fairly certain it's a girl, but I guess it doesn't matter since there is only the one ( I'm just hoping to goodness the other hamsters in the cage were girls, too, or we'll soon have babies to deal with). Or, if it's a boy, it'll be like that Johnny Cash song about the boy named Sue. LOL
So, meet Pam. Who still needs to be tamed, which will start in a day or two, once she gets more settled. I just took these pictures a little bit ago.
And here's a shot of the cage. Pretty fancy, huh?
Don't you love that masking tape? Well, the top part doesn't latch and once Pam figures out how to get up to that hidey hole, I certainly don't think it would take much for her to lift the lid and get out! You can see the yellow exercise ball behind the cage.
You know, my kids sleep pretty soundly (which is good thing most of the time). And they didn't hear her at 11pm last night when she was awake and chewing on the wire bars and I think making some hamster chirping sounds. But, I sure heard it and went in to see what was up. I think she wanted more food, so I put some in, and didn't hear her after that. Whew! Thankfully that wheel doesn't squeak or I might not get a good night's sleep for a good long while. LOL
Today we went to the library to get a book on caring for hamsters. We also found a video on the subject, too. So, now Amy has a good idea on how to be a caring hamster owner. I have to admit, she's kind of cute and it may be fun handling her after she's tamed. I'm proud of Amy for wanting the responsibility of pet ownership.
Thanks for stopping by! Hope your week is off to a great start.
9 comments:
How adorable! We had that same cage, now our hamster is in the old HUGE rabbit cage, lucky hamster!
You are such a brave mommy! I don't think I could handle a hamster. Can't wait to see pics of Amy with her new friend.
I never knew guinea pigs were stinky either? But I have never had one.
I don't even really know what a hamster is (we don't have them) I guess they must be like guinea pigs?
You will have to keep us updated on Amy and Pamela's adventures.
Pam the ham...ster! It's a cute little bugger. Good for Amy! Lucky she talked to that lifeguard, too. The cage and all the accessories for 10 bucks was a steal.
I was trying to remember how I managed to avoid the "hamster stage." I recall it was Dad who said no to having a "rodent" in the house. Mean guy! LOL.
I, too, hope to hear more about the adventures of Amy and Pam. Just watch out with the vacuum cleaner!
Hope your week is wonderful! Take care, friend.
Oh Kathi! What a funny! Jeanne, Amy's ham . . . ster is darling! I laughed out loud at the "boy named Sue" reference! Better you than me, girlfriend!!!
You are SUCH a good Mom.
Hugs!
Jeanne, I think you are going for Mom of the Year in my book. I didn't know that about guinea pigs either. I hope to see a great layout with this new adventure.
So cute!! Hey you'll have to get one of those clear plastic rolling balls so Pam can roll all over the house. :) Enjoy!!
Oh no, we are still laughing about the sucked up hamster, what a hilarious story! Gabby has had hamsters, the only we didn't like is that they are nocturnal and make all kinds of noise at night and snooze during the day. Plus they chewed through the cages... They are so cute though, wonderful little friends for little girls!
oh how fun...my g'daughters might be getting hamsters also....my other g'daughter is hamster sitting and the other girls were enamored with it...so...i can see pets in the future...
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