Pets? No, way! Yeah, that's what I thought....

Ethan has always loved animals. He has been asking me for a pet since a few years ago. But because we stay in a condo, it was very easy for me to tell him that we cannot have a pet cat or dog because there is simply no space for them to run around or even to sleep.

At that time, Ethan and Isabel were sleeping with my husband and I on the same bed. So Ethan said that the dog can sleep on the bed with us and Daddy can sleep on the couch! Poor Daddy... even the dog is more important than him! Hahaha!

Anyway, I had always insisted that we were never ever going to have any pets. With so many things on my hand, the last thing that I wanted was to have a pet to take care of. Even tortoises were not allowed as someone (most probably me) would need to clean up the bowl. I don't know why it's always the mother's job and not the father's.

So when my brother got a Schnauzer, Ethan was really delighted and he would look forward to going to his uncle's house every Saturday. He would play chasing, fetch and cuddle with the dog. When the dog had some fleas, Ethan even helped to pluck it out of its ears and look for more fleas in its body. Only Isabel was not so keen with the dog. She didn't even want the dog to go near her as she did not like the dog's wet nose.

But having a dog to play with every Saturday did not stop Ethan from asking me for a pet every once in a while. He wanted a pet of his own. And each time, I would tell him why we are not going to get a pet.

Then one day, I was just thinking to myself about the pets. I had lots of pets when I was a kid. We had had a few cats and dogs, hamsters, tortoises, birds, rabbits, chickens and even a duck. My mom was never one who was keen on having any sort of pets. If my mom had the same thoughts as me now, then my siblings and I would never had known the fun and joy of having pets. Sure, my mom was the one who had to feed the cats and dogs but she never did make noise over it. Neither did she ask us to give the pets away just because it gave her more work to do.

Would it be fair then for me to deny my son the joy of having pets just because I do not want to add anymore work on my long list of things to do everyday?

And anyway, I was the one who kept encouraging him to become a vet when he grows up since he likes animals. If he does not know how to take care of his own pets, how can he be encouraged to become a vet later on? 

So when I son suddenly asked me for a fighting fish, I said ok. I mean, how difficult would it be to take a of one fighting fish in a small aquarium? So far, after more than a month, Ethan is still feeding the fish every night. The only thing is that I do not want him to clean the aquarium himself so I need to do it for him. I'll give him a few more weeks before I teach him how to clean it himself.

And last week, Ethan was begging and crying for a hamster. After to 3 days of listening to him plead with me, I brought him to the pet shop and bought him a tiny winter hamster. Since then, he has been holding his hamster every waking hour at home. He refused to put the hamster back into the cage and just want to hold it all the time. He even wanted to sleep with it! And he wanted to bring it to school! He said he will hide the hamster inside his bag so that the teachers will not take it away. The poor little hamster is stuck with Ethan whenever Ethan is at home.

It has been almost a week since we got the hamster (which Ethan has named Mousey). I wonder if he will keep on loving it as much as he does now. Well, only time will tell.... Meanwhile, I shall just let him enjoy this precious moment of his childhood.