So, the beloved children have been moaning and groaning for the longest time for a pet of their own.
Phoebe
A hamster. A gerbil. A rat.
Having either:
a. owned one as a child and realized the low “wow” factor
OR
b. having grown up in a province where they are outlawed (really),
none of the aforementioned were options for me. Since the majority of pet duties ultimately fall to me, I thought I should have the final say.
But you can’t tell a kid anything, right?
You can, however, distract them.
Enter Exhibit A… the guinea pig.
My most up close and personal childhood experience with guinea pigs was with GP from Hammy Hamster (Remember the diving bell episode? And the boat they used to drive around?) I ADORED that show!
As an adult though, I’d only read about them, but I was impressed by how their owners RAVED about them….cute, cuddly, adorable, live longer than hamsters, demonstrative, full of personality, they make the loveliest noises… love, love, love them!
HOWEVER, I wasn’t buying into the company on just anecdotal evidence and my television experiences. I’m not *that* naive.
SO, I packed the kids up and we went to the pet store where we hunkered down for about an hour with two resident males. We petted, we cooed, we ruffled, not to mention we repeatedly smeared those guinea pigs under our noses to ensure there were no allergies (on their part or ours).
There was much begging as we left without them, BUT, I was strong and said, “Now, just because we’ve gotten to know these guys doesn’t mean we should just rush into this.”
As you can see, I was strong. For about an hour.
Max
Then I went into GP withdrawal in the worst way and caved.
I wasn’t going to do the pet store thing though if there were other GP’s in Yellowknife that needed adopting…and that is how Max and Phoebe came into our lives.
They are everything that everyone ever said about guinea pigs. Full of personality, adorable, cuddly, demonstrative and already we love, love, love them.
Meretta Pater 