This past October, Derek first broached the subject of being allowed to acquire a pet of some kind. It's now been a little over a year since we made the difficult decision to give our cat to another family, due to allergy and hygiene issues (ours, and the feline's, respectively) and I think he had been missing the presence of a four-legged friend in the house. Since then, the topic has cropped up again from time to time, but in a passing manner, unaccompanied by any whining, or begging, or...formal documentation. But that was about to change, suddenly and without any warning whatsoever. This weekend brought serious, organized escalation in the...Pet-itioning. (Sorry! Wait, who am I kidding, no I'm not!) Was I suspicious when the two brothers sat down innocently at their drawing table with paper and markers, and appeared to be industriously working on...a secret project of some kind? No, I just thought how delightful it was that they were sharing the same space and materials in such a cooperative and pleasant way. (Ha! Silly me!) As it turned out, they were compiling neatly-numbered, handwritten lists, ordering their Top Pet Choices. Which of course they then presented to me with great gravity and ceremony. And the winners? As follows:
Derek: 1. Turtle Riley: 1. American Toad
2. Frog/Toad 2. Lizard
3. Fish 3. Turtle
4. Snake
5. Lizard
(Evidently this should be considered a work in progress, however--at least for Riley--as he later slipped a note under my door while I was napping. It read: "I changed my mind. I want a pet turtle. Love, Riley." Still later, he deliberately sought me out to add yet another footnote to his selections: "I'd prefer any kind of toad...except a spadefoot toad because they dig holes in the dirt." Well, sure, honey, I can see why that would be completely undesirable! Okay, not at all, really...but I was doing my best parental "nod and smile" thing. And as for what the heck an "American Toad" is, and how it differs from, say...a Mexican Toad, I have NO clue. I suspect I'll be learning all these things and more in the very near future....) Honestly, the whole category of "turtle/frog/fish"--yes, I do realize they're separate species, but for my purposes I'm lumping them together in the acceptable "non-furry" group--seemed okey-dokey with me. A little aquarium, some water, maybe a few rocks, and you're good to go, right? (Yeah, like I said, we have some heavy-duty research to undertake before we actually commit to a critter...or two.) But when the boys shared their ideas with Husband, he voiced objections to each of the creatures, with the exception of fish. Mostly these worries involved things along the lines of "I don't like the possibility of having to scour the house for an escaped frog or lizard, only to have them jump on my head in the middle of the night." (Seriously, that was his concern. I don't really understand why he feared the turtle--ha! UMd joke!--as they don't...hop...or move very quickly at all, as a matter of fact...Memo to Self: quiz Husband about his unnatural aversion to reptiles and amphibians.) Me, I nixed the idea of a snake immediately. There will be no scaly, slithery animals--even tightly caged ones--under my roof, no way, no how.
So, where does that leave us? Well, clearly we have some serious Family Negotiation to accomplish before any little beastie joins our household. Given the variety of...stumbling blocks....that need to be addressed and overcome before we can accept a new webbed-footed or finned member to Team WestEnders, I think we'll be working on this one for a while. Stay tuned for our next episode of Animal Planet: Eastern Maryland Edition!
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