Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Yesterday, I finally grew a backbone

Before I became a mother, the only fur I envisioned in my future was the kind that I would drape around my neck when dinning in Aspen with the husband. I am not a fan of animals. Especially those whom co-exist under the same roof as me. A dog, kitten, two fish, one lonely snail, a frog and crickets for the frog is about all that I can handle.

However. Did you know that for $50 you can purchase five gerbils, or two rabbits, or one Chinese dragon lizard that eats worms, or even three parakeets, or five hundred crickets or a twelve inch snake? Yeah. Me neither.

The kid has saved more then $50 from his ongoing gig on a construction team, tooth fairy money, money matched by both grandmothers, and now he has more then Ester his school bus driver. Or, so he says. The kid, he is good at saving.

"Mom! Look.... this tarantula is nineteen dollars and ninety-eight cents." He beamed yesterday during our trip to the pet store after we lost half of our crickets the week before. I found one this morning alive in Lola's bow drawer. Eeek. "Mama, I. Can. Buy. The tarantula. I have enough money."

And after that statement, my friends, I finally grew a backbone as I imagined a loose tarantula finding a home in my Jimmy Choos.

"How about some Legos? Or more Bakugans? You can even buy a new video game." I offered my suggestions as he peered through the glass observing the guinea pig waddle to it's food. "How about buying some toys and giving it to children that have none?" I said as I watched the plump pig stumble into the glass.

We left with a bag of crickets. *taking a bow* Tonight I am thinking about starting up an online business of store-to-door cricket delivery. You know, for my own sanity.

photo courtesy of my pink Black Berry

Giving away a Wii Backyard Baseball 2010 video game here. For your own sanity. Heh.

54classy comments:

Tara R. said...

A tarantula? Ew... I hate spiders of any size, but one the size of a hamster is too much. Good for you.

Val said...

Oh no!!!Tarantula, good for you. I'd have to nix that too. Crickets, much better!

Green-Eyed Momster said...

I wish you were closer, I would have given you three male guinea pigs on Sunday. For FREE!! Heeheehee!!
That's what started this whole guinea pig thing for me, Oldest Daughter wanted a mouse for her birthday. I said "No! We don't have a snake to feed it to!"
Hence the guinea pig, then we got 3 free, 2 were pregnant = 8!

We have tarantulas in the yard for the kids to play with. Thank goodness!

Good luck with your cricket business!!
:)

Big hugs!!

Jessica said...

Oh my goodness! No thanks to a spider of ANY kind! I.DON'T.BLAME.YOU. Go, ohMommy!

By the way, is Jay still working for your husband? Is that where this money is coming from? Lucky kid! :)

the mama bird diaries said...

Animals are supposed to live outside right?

We once had a dog. She now lives in Connecticut. We stayed in the city. It's better that way.

A tarantula? I would die.

Jeni said...

Thank goodness when my kid were growing up and wanting to adopt -or sneak animals into the house behind my back (Yeah, we had a cat living here at one time that had been residing here for three weeks before I knew about it!) the only animals they were interested in having as pets were the normal kind -dogs and cats! If they'd wanted -or if Kurtis and Maya (the grandkids) were ever to ask for a pet mouse, I think I'd tell them just wait till winter and I'm sure there'll probably be a mouse that will find its way in to the house and you can adopt it as a pet, until it screws up and finds itself in a trap I'll be setting! Snakes and spiders -definitely no way EVER would they be permitted entry in MY house! I SHUDDER at that thought!

Rachel said...

I would definitely have the backbone to say no to a tarantula! :)

kim-d said...

Oh no. No, no, no. There was a song back in the day..."I don't like spiders and snakes." Amen.

In fact, being perfectly honest, the live cricket in the bow drawer would have done me in! I'm not especially "girlie" about most things, but creepy crawly critters?

Oh no. :)

Indy said...

Good for you. I have had to say no to hamsters and anything else that I have to feed, change water, clean up after, etc. I told them we'll talk after the baby and after some pets die. We have too many. Mama is tired.

designHER Momma said...

spiders? I would put my foot down as well. I have a line - and that's about where I draw it.

Anonymous said...

Tarantula? Kids are so clever - yours look adorable, peering into the animal tanks!

Congrats on winning that battle!

amanda said...

oh my gosh. never a tarantula in my house either!! yucko. in sixth grade our math teacher had one in his room, as a pet, i HATED sitting on that side of the room. i still get shivers thinking about it!

Flea said...

Introduce your frugal child to the power of purchasing animals for other, via GFA or Compassion International. The Catholic charities also have programs. There are several. This is my favorite:
http://www.gfa.org/donation/from-the-stable

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

You have to draw the line somewhere. Now is a GREAT time to learn that just because you CAN buy something, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

EW.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Good for you! I vote no tarantula! That crosses the line for me, too!

I like the idea of giving to charity...or what about saving half and spending half?

Does he have his own bank account? How fun would that be to take a trip to the bank and set up his own account?

GypsiAdventure said...

You are SO WAY better than me. My daughter wants a pet and good lord help us when we go to the pet store. Nevermind the cat and dog we have...no...she wants a gueine pig, or gerbil, or hamster or fish and I...no, I do not. My stepson spends the summers with us and when he is here we are busy with bug kits, full with grasshoppers or worms or whatever else he can imagine. This is not how I imagined my life either....
~K

Why not said...

haha, sorry but those stories about the crikets are so funny!!

I still remember my mother adventures to find leafs to feed the silkworms my brother had.. and his next acquisition were beetle rhinocerus...ewww

But a tarantula... I guess those are big words...so any maneuver to distract him of that is reasonable!!

Kelly said...

You go girl. I would have had to draw the line at the tarantula too! Yuck!

I am P said...

LOL, didnt you recently mention going to pick up the crickets by yourself?? Keep that boy out of the pet store :) So cute!

Ali said...

way to put your foot down! i'm a big believer in picking your battles. it was a good one to pick! haha!

Don Mills Diva said...

You have to draw the line somewhere and I'd say a tarantula is a pretty good place to draw it...

Amy said...

Oh you did good! A Momma has to draw the line, and that line is clearly marked across the path of anything that one can view through glass in the reptile house at the zoo.

Anonymous said...

I am convulsing at the thought of a tarantula (loose or in an aquarium) in my home. BLECH!!! Good for you for sticking to your guns! LOL

Nan Patience said...

Dog period.
That's it over here!

Kelly said...

Fine place to draw the line! My high school boyfriend had a tarantula and it got loose in his house and laid eggs. They had to have an exterminator come out AND even after the exterminator I never set foot in that house again! Ev-ah. Creepy.

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

The crickets got loose in your house??? I would die.....and there would be no way I could handle a tarantula....no way!!

Glad that you sweet talked your way out of the tarantula:)

Lisa

Stephanie said...

Tarantula? I'd be growing an extra set of legs to get away! Forget the backbone! ;oD

Chandra said...

I'm not sure about the crickets...wouldn't they keep you up at night chirping?? Oh, and a big HE*# NO to the tarantula, anything with eight legs is most definately not welcome in my house!
My boys have a gerbel "Skippy"...nothing better then having an oversized mouse for a pet!

Kim said...

Just the word tarantula is getting me creeped out..

Good for you.. crickets won't haunt your dreams.. haha

Desiree said...

We used to have tarantulas when I was growing up.. and snakes, scorpions, all kinds of weird pets :) They don't bother me at all :)

Oh, ALSO, I have a pink blackberry too... which matches my little pink camera, haha.

CC said...

Ewwwwwwww! Hurray for the backbone. I've started laying down the law on a few things my son can not buy as well. ;)

Elisa @ Globetrotting in Heels said...

Ugh, crickets. Double ugh, reptiles (except turtles, they are cute.) I just found a silver lining in my daughter's tendency to spend all her money right away ;-)

(sorry, I'm not very pet friendly. Unless someone else can pick up the dog poop. Or I can get a dolphin. I bet dolphins make great pets!!)

Tyne said...

I am with you on this one... no pet spiders for us!

Diva's Thoughts said...

Ok, being in the same building as a tarantula would scare the bejeesus out of me!

Tami said...

OMG! I went on a trip with my parents, left hubby with the kids and came home to a pet tarantula! It was supposed to be a parakeet, but they thought they would surprise me aka: I was not here to put my foot down.

Good job, steer him in a different direction. I have put an all out pet ban on at our house. No more pets are allowed to enter ;)

Good luck!!!

Unknown said...

Ha, it may be time to start teaching him about investing his money. Open up a bank account and watch his savings grow. Perhaps even get some stocks (I hear that its a great time to take risks since you don't really know what is going to happen next.)Talk to him about saving for college or a car or something when he is older.

Melissa ♥ Spoiled Mommy said...

Hahaha-my teenager wanted a Tarantula-NOPE, now way! And no snakes either, I couldnt do feeding them baby mice. Good luck Moma!

Kate Coveny Hood said...

So far, we haven't been able to keep goldfish alive (although I now suspect that they have a week long life span). So I'm currently safe from any pet requests.

Kari said...

I'm a sucker for animals, but I too, would have to drawn the line at a tarantula. Eeek.

Ronda's Rants said...

I wish I could give you two slightly used cats...daughter came home from college and said she had developed an allergy to her own cats!

Becca said...

Oh goodness! A tarantula? No thank you!

Julie said...

Yeah, I think I would even offered up a trip to the candy store!

3 Peanuts said...

I would have played this the exact same way!

Miss Lisa said...

The only thing worse than a spider like that would be a snake--please say you'll say no to the SNAKE!
We have a cat and fish--I tell my kids they cat will eat any tiny animals so we can't get anything else (allergic to puppies) :)

Blessings From Above said...

You are much kinder than me...I drew the line at a kitten. A tarantula??? No way! Not even for the Fifi nod.

Gretchen said...

Good for you!

This is why my kids can't understand when we tell them, "You may have enough money but you don't have permission." They all want a Wii so bad, and second choice would be a Nintendo DS. That's just not a right decision for our family right now but they don't see that. They can only see, "If we put all our money together we can have enough for it in 3 months!"

Pets are fun, but for goodness sakes tell Jay that the OH Household is not Neveland Ranch! LOL

the planet of janet said...

i applaud your backbone. awesome!

but you? are in so. much. trouble!!!!!!

Kari said...

Gotta save the Jimmy Choos! I would have had to draw the line at the tarantula, too. Great post.

Is the bag of crickets all he bought that day!? Or did he save it again for an even bigger purchase?

Tonya Staab said...

A tarantula. No way. No how. Never, ever, ever.

Great time to get a back-bone.

Good luck with that cricket business, just please don't come a knockin' on my door with them. Pretty please :)

Amanda said...

I couldn't have handled the tarantula either.

No spiders, No snakes, No lizards!

I have a 5 year old son, so he'll be getting to this stage soon. Maybe he'll just want a fish. Maybe.

Amy said...

No way, I can't even say "spider" without cringing.
You should totally get him a hamster, they never cause any trouble ;-)

Jaina said...

No tarantulas! I draw the line at spiders! ::shudder:: We went to Dave & Buster's last night and played this jungle safari game where you had to shoot things that attacked you. There were giant spiders. I think the bf and the manager had more fun watching me scream than anything else. Though, it was my decision to get in the car in the first place. One thing's for sure, I will NOT be taking any sort of exotic jungle safari for a honeymoon.

Jill said...

If it were up to my daughter, we'd have a house full of snakes. It's her serious fascination.

Yuk... I'm quite happy with our huge dog (despite how much money she costs us in vet bills). :)

Quarantine Hobby said...

Haha--good for you! Glad you managed to say N.O. to that. Phew.

I love that picture.

 

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