So the other night Graycie was talking to her Dad about getting a turtle. They have the cutest tiniest turtles at Petland. Steve told her we will have to talk to your Mother about it, good man. We were all together the next day and Steve brought it up to me about Graycie wanting a turtle. She was sitting at the counter just smiling away. I told her it was definitely something we would be willing to look in to. Bigger smile. I wanted to make sure that I gave her all the information about what it would entail to care for her own pet. Just keeping it real. Whenever my kids had to get their shots, I never said, "Oh, it won't hurt" or, "we're just going for a check-up." I always told my kids, "yep, you're getting a shot, it'll hurt...you'll be fine." I always made sure they knew I'll be there the whole time, it'll be quick, and hey, you get a sucker when you're done. Such is the same with most things in life. You have to know what you're in for, before you're knee deep in it.
I explained that having a real live pet is a huge responsibility. This isn't like Webkinz, if you don't make sure your pet is cared for, they can die. We went over some things and after a bit Gray says, "I think I will have a turtle when I'm older." I looked at her and ask, "How come?" she says, "I don't know, I just think I will have a turtle when I'm a grown up." So I take her into another room to carry on the conversation with her. She was pretty distraught and I ask her, "what's the matter?" she says, "well what about when I'm at school?" I tell her that we'll have to go talk to somebody at the pet store to find out about all of this. Like how many times a day they need to be fed. I didn't know all the answers so we need to go ask some questions. She still looked pretty upset and then started to cry. This broke my heart. I asked her what was going on and she says, "I'm just nervous." I can't tell you how proud I was at that moment. I told her that this is her choice and that in reality... ALL pets die. It's sad, but we should always feel happy about the quality of life we've provided. Like our dogs. They have a warm house to live in, food to eat, each other to play with, not to mention a house full of kids to play with. We should always feel happy about what we've provided for them. And yes, they will die too but they will have had a GREAT life. One much better then if we were not in it.
I convinced her that before we got too upset or worked up about this we need to make a trip to the pet store. And besides, we should probably go and look for ideas of what to get Jett and Bella for Christmas. This put a smile back on her face, and away she went.
I could not believe that my little girl...only 7 years old was capable of sooo much compassion. She has always had a love for animals. But it blew my mind that she gave it THAT much thought. Most kids when asking for a pet spew the same ol' story, "yes, I'll take care of it, I WANT IT, I promise I'll take care of it, I WANT IT!" I was proud that she was not only concerned about what would happen when she was at school, but asked if I would help her!!! I mean seriously, that was proof right there that she would take this more seriously than most adults would. I wanted to buy her a turtle right then and there. I was so incredibly impressed with her, and it made me feel sooo proud. I adore that girl, and love the fact that if nothing else...she's made me feel, I must be doing something right.
2 comments:
You really had me all excited that she got that teeny-tiny turtle that you put a picture up of... ;) She sounds like she has a heart of gold, like her Mama. It's good that she can still be appeased with something stuffed at this point, cause if she loves animals this much she'll be wanting that turtle again in the future. Don't turtles stink or is that frogs? :) Nice to see a post from you, Lisa.
She's so awesome!
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