No recipe today,sorry! Friday night in our house is Princesses Night. My two girls and I get our pyjamas on early, watch a chick flick and eat pizza! I suggest you do the same! Main event of the day- our house rabbit Poppy became an outside the house rabbit. Let me explain:-
Pleeeeese Mummy!
“Please Mummy! Pleeeeeese! I have wanted one for like forever. All my friends have one. I promise I will take care of it. I swear on my sisters’ life”
I could be explaining my daughters’ desperate need for numerous things- a bike, a Nintendo, a computer, a Roxy jacket etc , but no what she wanted was a rabbit. Before the rabbit she “neeeeeeeeded” to have a hamster. I can just picture the poor rodent cowering in its’ cage as my three cats stalk round it licking their whiskery chops. Before the hamster it was a guinea pig. Before the guinea pig it was a fish- but not a pretty goldfish type fish, one of those weird fish that suck on to the side of the fish tank. For goodness sake where is the fun in watching a pair of big lips slide found a glass bowl? Before the fish it was a terrapin- until her friends’ terrapin bit her. My daughter is like one of those nippy, yappy terrier dogs- once she is on a mission she never shuts up and she never lets go.
So, this time she must have caught me at a weak moment and I agreed to her having a rabbit. As soon as I uttered the word “yes” I knew I had made a huge mistake. I tried to justify my decision to others, and myself, by saying- she is now 11 and therefore mature enough to take care of the rabbit; it will be an excellent way for her to learn to be more responsible etc. etc. Friends and family gave me that sad, how deluded are you look. Wake up and smell the coffee Kate. This is Robyn we are talking about. Robyn who thinks that coats belong on the floor with the wet towels and dirty clothes. This is Robyn who can’t see the sense in making your bed because you are just going to get back into it later. This is Robyn who thinks all available space in our home should be filled with her “stuff”. This is Robyn whose school bag contains scary, mouldy stuff and whose gym bag should have a “Risk of Contamination” sign on it. This is Robyn who is so lazy she would rather talk like the man in the Mr. Kipling adverts than blow her nose. This is Robyn who rather than brush her hair cuts the tats out. Anyway, I had agreed….enter Poppy.
First we had to buy all the necessaries for Poppy- cage, water bottle, food bowl, snacks, special baby bunny food, brush, collar and lead (yes, really!),vitamin enhanced, wooden, chewy sticks and hay. How on earth do rabbits in the wild survive without all these things? All prepared (or so I thought) off we went to get Poppy.Oh, so cute! A little ball of golden, silky, fur. One ear up and one ear down, little twitchy nose- she could melt even the hardest of hearts. Little cotton wool tale, shiny black eyes and ……teeth. With those teeth came phase two of buying necessaries for Poppy- blankets to protect my sofa, covers for all electrical cables (the video cable was the first of Poppys’ victims), patches to mend clothes and boxes to store toys (we now have a very scary looking “Phantom of The Opera Barbie”- no nose and half a face!)
We wanted Poppy to be a house rabbit; freedom to hop and jump wherever her sharp, clawed little feet wanted to. All fine and dandy until you find your house covered in little chocolate like balls and you sit on a patch of warm rabbit wee. Super, until you see your house slowly disintegrating in front of your eyes. Perfect, until you go to tie your shoelaces and realize they are no more. We wanted Poppy to be human friendly; Robyn was to spend quality time with her every morning and night. But do you realize how busy an 11 year old is? There’s hair to be straightened; outfits to be chosen; computer games to be played; vital conversations on Messenger to be had (after all a girl has so much to tell her school friends; the ones she saw only half an hour previously!). The list goes on and that is before the tedious tasks of homework, brushing teeth, showering etc enter in. So, who gets quality time with Poppy? Muggings here. Who cleans out Poppys cage? Yours truly. Who chases Poppy round the room in a vain attempt to brush her? Moi.
I suppose I shouldn’t complain- she could have neeeeeeeded a horse or a pot bellied pig. Next time I am getting straight on to Amazon and buying one of those DVDs of a virtual fish tank. Actually, I wonder if they do a horse one?
“Please Mummy! Pleeeeeese! I have wanted one for like forever. All my friends have one. I promise I will take care of it. I swear on my sisters’ life”
I could be explaining my daughters’ desperate need for numerous things- a bike, a Nintendo, a computer, a Roxy jacket etc , but no what she wanted was a rabbit. Before the rabbit she “neeeeeeeeded” to have a hamster. I can just picture the poor rodent cowering in its’ cage as my three cats stalk round it licking their whiskery chops. Before the hamster it was a guinea pig. Before the guinea pig it was a fish- but not a pretty goldfish type fish, one of those weird fish that suck on to the side of the fish tank. For goodness sake where is the fun in watching a pair of big lips slide found a glass bowl? Before the fish it was a terrapin- until her friends’ terrapin bit her. My daughter is like one of those nippy, yappy terrier dogs- once she is on a mission she never shuts up and she never lets go.
So, this time she must have caught me at a weak moment and I agreed to her having a rabbit. As soon as I uttered the word “yes” I knew I had made a huge mistake. I tried to justify my decision to others, and myself, by saying- she is now 11 and therefore mature enough to take care of the rabbit; it will be an excellent way for her to learn to be more responsible etc. etc. Friends and family gave me that sad, how deluded are you look. Wake up and smell the coffee Kate. This is Robyn we are talking about. Robyn who thinks that coats belong on the floor with the wet towels and dirty clothes. This is Robyn who can’t see the sense in making your bed because you are just going to get back into it later. This is Robyn who thinks all available space in our home should be filled with her “stuff”. This is Robyn whose school bag contains scary, mouldy stuff and whose gym bag should have a “Risk of Contamination” sign on it. This is Robyn who is so lazy she would rather talk like the man in the Mr. Kipling adverts than blow her nose. This is Robyn who rather than brush her hair cuts the tats out. Anyway, I had agreed….enter Poppy.
First we had to buy all the necessaries for Poppy- cage, water bottle, food bowl, snacks, special baby bunny food, brush, collar and lead (yes, really!),vitamin enhanced, wooden, chewy sticks and hay. How on earth do rabbits in the wild survive without all these things? All prepared (or so I thought) off we went to get Poppy.Oh, so cute! A little ball of golden, silky, fur. One ear up and one ear down, little twitchy nose- she could melt even the hardest of hearts. Little cotton wool tale, shiny black eyes and ……teeth. With those teeth came phase two of buying necessaries for Poppy- blankets to protect my sofa, covers for all electrical cables (the video cable was the first of Poppys’ victims), patches to mend clothes and boxes to store toys (we now have a very scary looking “Phantom of The Opera Barbie”- no nose and half a face!)
We wanted Poppy to be a house rabbit; freedom to hop and jump wherever her sharp, clawed little feet wanted to. All fine and dandy until you find your house covered in little chocolate like balls and you sit on a patch of warm rabbit wee. Super, until you see your house slowly disintegrating in front of your eyes. Perfect, until you go to tie your shoelaces and realize they are no more. We wanted Poppy to be human friendly; Robyn was to spend quality time with her every morning and night. But do you realize how busy an 11 year old is? There’s hair to be straightened; outfits to be chosen; computer games to be played; vital conversations on Messenger to be had (after all a girl has so much to tell her school friends; the ones she saw only half an hour previously!). The list goes on and that is before the tedious tasks of homework, brushing teeth, showering etc enter in. So, who gets quality time with Poppy? Muggings here. Who cleans out Poppys cage? Yours truly. Who chases Poppy round the room in a vain attempt to brush her? Moi.
I suppose I shouldn’t complain- she could have neeeeeeeded a horse or a pot bellied pig. Next time I am getting straight on to Amazon and buying one of those DVDs of a virtual fish tank. Actually, I wonder if they do a horse one?
Animal lovers do not panic- Poppt now has a luxury home outside (with light and everything) and a huge terrace to try and chew her way through!
The whole issue of having a pet is extremely controversial in my house. We used to have a dog that became quite crazy after my second son was born and began to hide pampers behind the furniture. I believe it was because he became jealous that the kids were getting most of the attention. At one point, he began to snap at my boys and my husband said we had to get rid of him. As a result, my husband will not agree to get another pet for fear we will have more problems. I would love to have another dog.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I am from La Coruna, Spain. How ironic that your location is Spain.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning! Like I mentioned-you are a tough cookie and I am a soggy biscuit. I never planned to have 5 cats and a rabbit, but I am a sucker for a sob story and that "Pleeeeeze" look my twin girls give me! Have a great weekend! Kate
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