Picking our new Pet

Every day we have an "adventure" of some form at our house!  Some days it's snail searching, some days it's a big event or a party, or a trip.  Earlier this week we accidentally instigated a chain of events which ended up with us getting a new pet today.

How it all started was our cat found a baby bunny that we rescued.  We ended up getting a cage and tried to keep it from cat.  At night, we released it back to its habitat so the mother could find it, and we ended up with a cage....perfect size for a pet.

The bunny situation ended up sad because cat found the nest and was very bad overall.  However, we did do our best to try and protect and save them.  However, it did start us down the path of getting a small pet that the boys can keep in their room and learn to care for themselves.

Wednesday we decided to go get our kids a guinea pig for the cage, but EVERYONE in town was sold out!!  This is how we ended up on today's grand adventure.

We called ahead and the pet store's ensured us they would have guinea pigs today, so we went right at 9 a.m. to the store and they were stock with ferrets, hamsters, rats,.....no guinea pigs.  We went to the next store and sure enough was three brand new guinea pigs JUST put on the floor!!

The boys had a wonderful time looking, searching, and picking the perfect one for our family.  There really only was one choice for us, because the pet was calm, sweet, and looked cute!  (the other two had beady red eyes and crazy hair!!)  The boys, of course, wanted the "good" looking one.  Then we had the fun of teaching them what types of food, bedding, toys, etc that their new pet would need.

We got to discuss and go through the importance of the right foods, toys, water, everything that a pet needs.  Not just the "fun" part of getting a new pet!

All in all the kids had a grand adventure learning about a new pet, and now we will go through the lessons of teaching them responsibility with their pet.  Ruth, the guinea pig, will be stationed in the kids bedroom in hew beautiful new habitat.  The boys are excited to learn how to feed, change, and take care of their new baby!!

We do have dogs, cat, other pets, but this is their FIRST pet that they picked out, named, and care for on their own.



What are other ways that you teach your kids responsibility?