The Inconvenient Hamster Truth – Part II
If you read my blog posts with any loyalty at all, youâll know what this is about. If not, Iâll try to catch you up. This event is still fresh in my mind. Please forgive me if I cry a little.
Last Spring, we bought a hamster for our kids. We named her Penny. We immediately noticed that Penny had serious drinking and anger management issues. The hamster would finish a whole water bottle in one day and would bite anyone who dared to reach in the cage.
Like goldfish, hamsters are not known for their longevity and she died within a month. Not prepared to deal with the death an ornery, but still beloved family member, my husband and I concocted a plan to replace Penny with an identical hamster. If you recall, the plan was a complete success. My kidsâ suspicions about her changed appearance were quickly laid to rest after I told them that our little Penny was just going through a âlife change,â? similar to the one of their teenage cousin.
A few weeks later while I was out of town, my husband took it upon himself to tell the kids the truth about Penny. After a day of handling and mishandling, Penny No. 2 was looking a little dazed and confused. He said they needed to be aware of why we had so many rules to protect our hamster. The news was taken pretty well, especially since Penny No. 2 was more agreeable than Penny No. 1.
Fast forward six months. I tucked the kids in bed and looked in Pennyâs cage on top of the bookcase. Thatâs when I noticed her laying on her side. There was no hope of revival and no question of her fate.
I took the cage down to the kitchen. My husband, who I refer to as Secret Agent Man, had left town earlier that day. I was going to have to face this alone. I didnât even consider doing the âPenny Switcherooâ? again. I gathered my kids in my bedroom and told them the news.
They immediately ran downstairs to the kitchen to look death in the eye for themselves. There wasnât really much I had to say or do. Impressively, their coping mechanisms immediately took over.
Mini Me, my 6 year old daughter, became âThe Mourner.â? She shed a few quiet tears for her beloved hamster. I think knowing of the death of the previous hamster prepared her for the inevitability of this one. But, we are still not allowed to say Pennyâs name out loud. That makes the tears well up again.
Boy No. 1, one of my 8 year old twins, became âThe Informer.â? He told me that he thought it would be a good idea if he broke the news to Dad. He called Secret Agent Man the next day. He started off the same way I had told them, âDad, I have some bad newsâ¦.â?
Boy No. 2, my other twin, was the one I appreciated most of all. He became âThe Undertaker.â? I didnât even have to ask – he offered to pick up the body. I prepared a small box full of toilet paper (we all agreed that is what Penny would have wanted) and he carefully lifted her already hardening body and delicately laid her in the box. I taped it shut. Then my son lovingly wrote on the outside of the box, âOur Dear Hamster.â?
(Tears and sniffles.)
My children handled the death and funeral arrangements of their beloved pet with bravery and dignity beyond their years. If their career goals of CIA operative, professional soccer player, and mother donât work out, maybe they can get jobs at the mortuary.
Annie, you crack me up. It sounds like your kids are so YOU! I feel like I’m going through a hampster-style life change today..:)
It never ceases to amaze me how comfortable most kids are with death (so long as it doesn’t affect their usual routine). You are so lucky that you didn’t have to take care fo the dead critter all by yourself.
It’s good to establish roles in a family.
You’re a good mama!
Sometimes kids understand so much more than we think they do. At the same time, it’s great that mama is around ; )
It was even better the second time!!!
(I miss the picture of Penny wearing the little red bow, though.)
Seriously, I DID NOT want to touch the body. I am so glad that my son offered to do it!
you are hilarious, annie!! i love this story…in a kleenex box because that is what she would have wanted. lol.
I love this story. We don’t have hamsters anymore. They die too quickly. Those missed days of school for the hamster funeral were beginning to add up;)
Oh I so hope I don’t ever have to hamsters for my little ones…or any other pet for that matter! Great story!
You go to such great lengths for your kids. You’ve obviously raised them right for them to have such natural reactions to this sad event in their short lives. And I wouldn’t have wanted to touch the dead hamster, either!
This just makes me cry. Wah! Wah! Wah!
I’m glad your kids took it better than I did.
Ooooh! This was so cute and so sad at the same time!
We have hamsters..they replaced our toads (may they rest in peace)…oy vey, I hope they live a long time. I don’t want to go through the pet funeral again.
*snort* to the ‘anger management issues’.
Tiff
“our little Penny was just going through a âlife change,â? similar to the one of their teenage cousin.”
That line killed me. I am serious. I am dead…from laughter.
Oh, poor Penny. Such a cute (but sad) post. The kids, they handled it well it sounds!
Haha! That’s a great post. I hope my own son will be as sensitive as your brood.
Mortuary jobs aren’t so bad. Look what it did for “Six Feet Under.”
http://www.imaginarybinky.com
Your kids are so cute! The mourner, the informer (“Dad, I have some bad news”…how precious is that!?!), and the undertaker. Hahahaha! I would have been the same way about touching it. Ewwwwww….
My kids were sad to hear of Penny’s passing. In my opinion Beta fish are the best pets. They are quiet, easy to feed, and easy clean up when it’s their time.
This story was so sweet, and brought back memories of our own sad little pet funerals! You did a good job with a difficult situation!
My boys are in second in command for cockroach clean-up duty when Papi isn’t around. We get those giant tree roaches as long as your thumb. Ick. I figure that’s the least they can do for me…..after all, I did give them life!
This week, I put my kids in “charge of your own vomit” duty.
Isn’t it nice when they’re old enough to have duties?
I’m hearing you, Carrot Jello. My kids are at the perfect age. They are old enough to wipe with own butts and young enough to still believe that I know everything.
A dead mammal seems like a lot more work than a dead fish. Luckily we have a shark that eats all the weak fish in the tank (survival of the fittest is alive and well at our house).
I’m suddenly so glad we don’t have pets. I’m not so sure my kids could have handled the situation with the aplomb that yours did.
Seriously sad story, and yet told in such a lovely way.