Furry Members of the Family

I have been thinking a lot lately about what pets add to the household.  My husband’s dad and step-mom recently visited and bought my two girls’ two pet guinea pigs.  I didn’t know what to expect with these furry rodents but we’re all really taken with them.

They are actually very sweet and sit still on the kids’ laps for a long time.  The g-pigs haven’t tried to bite them either.  I had no idea that these creatures would be such calm, easy-going, low-maintenance pets.  Seeing the girls with them is really cool.

Looking back, I wish my parents would have let us have pets growing up. My husband had a ton of pets in his childhood and he’s really natural with dogs, birds, cats, guinea pigs, etc.  I didn’t have that animal experience until an adult.

We selected our dog, a Sheltie about 8 years ago.  He was our first “child”.  After having him for a few months, I decided I was ready for children.  Our Sheltie died suddenly in February.  We were all devastated and cried like babies.   My six year old daughter did too.  Seeing her so upset was really hard.

Almost immediately she was asking if she could have a new pet to replace her old one.  I wasn’t ready to even think about that for several months.  Then a few weeks ago I brought up the idea of getting guinea pigs for our children.  When grandpa and grandma came to visit from Louisiana, they wanted to do something special for them.  We quickly gave in.

I’m so glad we did!   We’re now quite attached to these furry girls.  Yes two girl guinea pigs.  More girls in our house!!   They stay put.  They are cuddly.  They whistle and wiggle their butts.

Meet Tinker (left) and Sweetheart (right).  They are our furry members of the family!