Hamster-ical

There is rarely a dull moment around here. This past week, on Tuesday afternoon to be exact, we welcomed the newest member of our family, Thor the Hamster. Nicholas has been asking for a pet for quite a while now, but Bryant and I had long ago decided that we would be petless until the boys were old enough to contribute to the care of any pets. We now feel like Nicholas at least, is old enough to care for one and we let him choose what type of pet. I was kinda hoping for a fish and Bryant spent a good deal of time extolling the virtues of becoming the parent of a house plant. I am not kidding, he tried his best to convince Nicholas that a plant was the way to go, sigh. I honestly figured he would choose a dog but instead he picked a hamster. Yes, a rodent. So on Tuesday, we went to get a pet and this is where the detour begins...

I am not proud to admit that I had pretty much rather have any pet other than a hamster, excepting mice and snakes. I am however, ashamed to admit that I resorted to bribery and pleading all the way from pulling into the pet store parking lot right up until we checked out. I even offered a pony for Nicholas to reconsier the whole hamster in the family thing. Nicholas could not be budged. So we loaded up on hamster necessities, a really cool habitat, and a bunch of hamster toys and snacks. Nicholas was so excited, carried his little hamster out in a cardboard box. I was rather creeped out watching the box squirm and both boys had trouble remembering not to swing the box, so we decided to put our new pet safely in the floor behind the third row of seats in my car for the ride home. We spent almost the entire 20 minute ride home trying out names. With help from Greyson, Nicholas settled on Thor.

We got home, the boys hurried to the back of the car to open the door and take Thor into his new home... only to discover an empty box with a big ol' whole chewed through the side of it. yes, while we were happily naming our new pet, he was quickly gnawing his way to freedom...In. My. Car. We looked and looked for him but had to stop after about an hour or so because we were due at the ball field for a Tuesday night T Ball game. After the game, we spent another hour or so trying to find him, but could only assume that he must have gotten out of the car while we were looking for him with all the doors open. Nicholas was very upset and I have to admit that I suffered some serious guilt and slept like crap that night (also keeping my awake was the thought of a hamster loose in my car). But back to the guilt, I felt terrible because my son was sad that his first pet did not even make it home from the store. And worse than that, Bryant and I had done all we could to ruin the experience for him by trying to talk him out of the hamster. Seriously, could we be worse parents? Nicholas woke up in the middle of the night, really upset over Thor and I promised to find him the next day or get him a new Thor.

The next morning, both Bryant and I looked for Thor before the crack of dawn. Seriously, both of us felt so bad and were so worried we had scarred him for life that we woke up before the sun and were digging around in my car. No luck. After listing the help of our employess and some of our friends all day, we could not find the rat...errr...hamster, so I left the restaurant early and bought a new hamster. Bryant was all for lying and telling Nicholas that we found Thor, but I felt honesty was the best route. So I gave Nick his new hamster and told him how we thought Thor had escaped from my car (really we figured he was still in there and one day the smell would lead us to him). Nicholas was fine, he fell in love with his new hamster and named him Thor 2. Clearly I have let him watch one too many sequals.

This story has gotten really long, longer than I anticipated, so I will try to just hit the highlights now. Thursday morning, Nick and I get in the car for school, he sees Thor 1 running around the car. He is all happy, I am totally freaked. I had to drive with a loose hamster in my car and I was making some odd noise between crying, moaning and humming the whole time. Nicholas was trying to soothe me from the back seat and I am ashamed to admit that I kept praying that Thor 1 was still in the back with my kid, rather than up front with me. Yes, I admit it, if the only thing standing between me and Thor 1 was Nicholas, I would have pushed him forward. Sad, I know.

So for 4 days I rode around in a constant state of panic with a hamster loose in my car. Bryant decided to set a trap, a humane trap for Thor 1. It was straight out of Scooby Doo, seriously Fred would have been so proud. I wont go into detail, but it consisted of levels, hamster treats, and a trash can. Two days later, it worked. Saturday morning, I opened the back door to get Grey's soccer ball and there was Thor 1, all nice and comfy, staring up at me from the bottom of a trash can. of course, I very quickly shut the door and called Bryant.

Now we have two hamsters, two cages (one is male and the other is possible female), tons of little rodent toys, a big bag of hamster food, a bigger bag of bedding and two very happy little boys. And one seriously creeped out Mommy.

I do not have any pictures but plan to take some tomorrow to add to this post. Cant wait to see some super sized beedy red eyes up close, ewwwwww.