Several months ago…way back in March. Allison got the idea in her head that she wanted a hamster. I quickly told her no thanks and dismissed it. Allison would not be deterred. She promised to take care of it, do all the work, blah, blah, blah. She said all the things that kids need to say to get a pet. I was not convinced. I pointed out all the negatives of having a pet. She was not convinced.
She even convinced me to go to the pet store with her to ‘just look’. You might think, “big mistake” but that is how my siblings and I got our dog. We just went to ‘visit’ the pound and came home with a dog because my mom couldn’t handle seeing all the sad dogs. I knew what she was planning. After driving me crazy asking to go to the pet store I told her I would take her but we were NOT coming home with any pet. It actually worked out in my favor. Kind of. I saw the hamsters and was immediately grossed out. They are basically a mouse without a tail. No. I hate mice. Allison asked the employee if she could hold it. She told her that hamsters don’t really like to be held and they tend to bite a lot. Allison seemed a little put off by that and as I was getting ready to suggest we head home the helpful employee continued on to suggest that Allison hold a guinea pig instead. Guinea pigs like to be snuggled and they aren’t as fragile so it is easier to hold them. She hands Allison a bushy guinea pig. That’s all the convincing Allison needs to decide she would rather have a guinea pig.
The next few days she peppered us with reasons why she wanted a guinea pig and I responded with reasons why I didn’t want one. Allison is a very determined little girl if you haven’t figured that out already. She would not let it go. Somewhere along the way I said that I would not spend my money on buying a guinea pig. She said she would earn enough money to get it herself. I told her she had to save enough money to get the guinea pig, a cage, and all the things it would need and THEN I would THINK about it. Of course I thought that would deter her when she realized how much money it was or she would get distracted with other things along the way that she wanted instead. Allison went to the computer and googled everything a guinea pig needed, then price checked and shopped for it all online so she new how much she needed. At first she decided she needed $65 for the cage and guinea pig. Then she decided she wanted to get the food, bedding, and a toy and some other things so her grand total came to $120.
For the next five months Allison went to work thinking of anyway she could to earn money. She sold all her slime to friends at school, she offered to walk peoples dogs, she did extra chores for me, her aunts, her uncles and anyone that had something for her to do. She had her own table at the neighborhood garage sale. She did bake sales and lemonade stands. She saved every penny she earned or was gifted (both grandmas contributed to her cause). She would not be redirected either. She didn’t spend any money on treats, or anything else. She bought one shirt for herself that she really wanted, that was it. There wasn’t anything else she spent her money on. I was very good at giving her options of things that I thought she would like too. Especially the closer she got to her $120 goal. I did my best to get her to change her mind and focus on something else with her money besides a guinea pig. She would not be deterred.
A few days after her birthday when she added in the last of the birthday money she had gotten and a few more dollars for extra chores, she triumphantly came into my room and excitedly told me that she had finally reached her goal, she had $120.80. She was ready to go to the pet store. I tried, with no luck to change her mind one last time. I talked with Ryan and he said that he thought with the dedication, determination, work and effort she had put into earning the money we should let her get her guinea pig. Grrrr! Curse Ryan and his logical, lesson teaching parenting. As much as I wanted to disagree though I couldn’t.
On August 2nd Allison, Leah, Emilee and I headed to Petsmart. They were out of guinea pigs and said it would be a few weeks before they got more. Once again, Allison was not going to give up that easy. She quickly suggested trying Petco. When we got there, she asked if she could hold a guinea pig. The person helping us said she could. The three they had at the store were pretty jumpy and not on their best behavior. I thought things were playing out rather nicely. Maybe she would decide to be satisfied with the stuffed guinea pig toy I got her in Colorado. Then the employee proceeds to tell Allison that a family that has been a customer for years had just (like thirty minutes before we got there) brought their guinea pig back to be rehomed because they had gotten a cat and the two weren’t getting along. He took her over to show him to us. I still had hope because Allison said she wanted a girl and this one was a boy. He also had long hair and all the ones she had wanted were short haired. He picked him up and handed him to Allison. This little guy was much calmer and was used to being held. He snuggled in and started purring. Allison asked how much he was, the guy told her he would give her a good deal-$5!! Allison kept her game face on and said, $5 for the pig and the cage? He agreed and Allison was sold. I tried not to be annoyed, we were getting a guinea pig. Because of her stellar $5 deal she had plenty of money left to buy food, bedding, grooming stuff, and even a toy with money to spare. We brought him home, cleaned his cage really well, gave him a bath, brushed him and introduced him to his new home. I ordered sanitizers, deodorizers, gloves, and anything else that made me feel less gross about having a rodent living in my house. The store said his name was Brownie but Allison renamed him Peanut and later decided that was short for Peanut Butter at a suggestion from her Grandpa Jones.
We have now had him for a few days and I will admit so far it is not so bad. I think it is nice that he can be left in his cage and I really don’t ever have to take care of him. We are still setting up ground rules about where he is and isn’t allowed to be, washing hands after touching him, his cleaning requirements and such. He does seem to be a sweet little guy though, and of course the kids love him to death already. They spent today making him a ‘play area’ out of boxes, and anything they could find they thought he would like. Hopefully my biggest issue with him will be what to do with him when we go places, which already was and is one of my biggest arguments against having any pet.
Aside from the obnoxious consequence of now having a guinea pig, I am very proud of Allison. She showed a lot of initiative and determination and self control to earn him on her own. She made a plan, stuck to it, and reached her goal. Not many 8 year olds would be able to stay focused and stick with their goal for 5 months. Ryan and I have both told her she showed and worked on developing many good qualities that will be good to have in her life with this experience. We are very proud of her. We also reminded her she gets to continue developing those qualities for the next 7-8 years of her guinea pigs life by taking care of all of his needs. She can do it.
