Hamster Views

When I was five, I received my very first hamster. I think it was an olive branch from my parents because they had secretly relocated my two kitties, Georgia and Samantha...and gave away my two dogs, Patches and the puppy we didn't keep long enough to name properly.

Mysteriously, the hamster was allowed to stay...and the 3 more after that. I remember that I would place my chin on my fist and watch Freddie for hours. Freddie had a hamster wheel. He LOVED his wheel and he rode it constantly.

In my adult life, I have come to the conclusion that hamsters make horrible pets for small children. Here's why: A child is very strongly influenced by his/her surroundings. These things impact us for life...even on a deep subconscious level we make life decisions that are influenced by our childhood environment.

For instance, from the cats I would have learned to be completely indifferent to the stupidity of humans. To always keep relationships on my terms, and not wear my feelings on my sleeves. And always stay neat and clean at all costs.

From the dogs I would have learned to express unconditional love, never meet a stranger, protect my loved ones from danger, there are no such things as germs, and any problem can be resolved by licking it to death!

Hamsters.............

I have a room in my house we like to call the library. Problem: The library was the only room in the house still decorated in stuffed boxes, and it is also the very first room one sees upon walking in the front door. Why is the room still in boxes? There are no shelves or furniture to place anything in/on. Obviously, you can't have a library with no book shelves.

Okay, I need shelves. But if I buy shelves, obviously they need to be anchored to the wall for safety purposes. uh oh! Why would I permanently anchor shelves to an unpainted wall? So, I need to paint the walls first. Oh great, what color????? Actually, the color of the walls will have to coordinate with and depend on the color of the overstuffed reading chairs I plan to put in there later. Later? if I wait till LATER to buy the chairs, how will I know what colors to paint the walls? Then again, the style and print of the chairs will largely depend on the fabric and style of the curtains which I plan to sew and hang later. Later?? Joanne Fabrics is having 50% off sale on all decorator fabrics. Why pay double tomorrow, what I can buy on sale today? Okay, I like these fabrics...but what if I find chairs on sale that don't coordinate with the curtain fabric I choose today. Anyway, I don't know how much fabric I need because I'm not sure what style of curtain I should put in a library, which will depend largely upon the type of hardware I choose to hang the curtains. I haven't shopped curtain hardware yet...and why should I? I won't be able to hang the hardware anyway until AFTER I PAINT AROUND THE WINDOWS!!!

Moral: If you give a child a hamster, they will always view life from the hamster wheel.