The topic of pets is something that Elaine and I discuss on our annual get togethers…and you, Elaine, took the plunge and added an adorable adopted lab to your family. I love dogs, and my kids are literally dying for a dog, but somehow I can’t muster the courage to add a fifth child to my household…especially with our crazy on the go away almost every weekend type schedule.
Enter my sister in law. The aspiring student who is currently completing her PHD in biology – with a special focus in entomology (BUGS!). Is she ever the popular aunt…the one who traipses through the woods with kids in tow, turning over rocks, peeling back bark, in search of any type of insect that will present itself. The one who gave my son Jack a millipede a couple years ago, who became Petey, and ventured out with us to the park to take a few rides down the slide. The one who just gave Jack three hissing cockroaches for his birthday just after Christmas. They are quite large (not like the little guys I lived with in my Boston apartment eons ago) and they like to hiss at each other. I try not to think about it, but I can’t believe I now have 3 cockroaches sitting on my kitchen counter in a cage. A couple of weeks ago as we were headed out the door for the weekend, and everyone was in the garage climbing into the car, and I was going through my mental checklist….heat turned down? yes, lights off? yes…then yelling out the door…”did everyone go to the bathroom?”…yes….”And did someone feed the cockroaches?” I just had to stop and smile as I pictured myself throwing some raw meat on the kitchen floor as I walked out the door so the cockroaches could feast all weekend.
So is this wise, I must ask myself. Well, cockroaches certainly are not the lovable companions that dogs are. They’re not terribly cuddly, and don’t voluntarily put their head in my lap…however I guess I could put one in my lap as I’m watching TV. But, for now I think I’m wise, because as long as they don’t procreate, there’s not many things that are more easy to take care of than a cockroach.
The only problem is…they just might outlive me.
2-8-2008 11:44:36
Anne, you are too funny!
The other advantage to pet cockroaches:
** They don’t destroy your new black pumps because their bored.
** They don’t poop in the yard and, thus, fuel the ongoing battle about whose turn it is to clean it up.
** They don’t wake you up at 3 a.m. barking frantically b/c they just heard an owl screech.
** They don’t puke on the floor after your husband was silly enough to give them leftover Chinese food.
Hmmm … maybe we should give this cockroach idea a whirl … Off to break the news to our lab Toby …