My Pets

When I was a kid my grandfather, who lived with us, had a "Siamese Fighting Fish" he trained to jump out of the water and knock food out of his fingers when he tapped on the side of the aquarium. I named that fish Sir Velvet because he was the color of blue velvet.

I got a pet goldfish that kept jumping out of the fish bowl the first day I had him, so I named the fish Silly.

Later I got a pet hamster and named him Hampstead. The first day I left him outside and he escaped from the cage and disappeared so my mother got me another hamster. I named that one Hamstead.

I was allowed to adopt a stray cat my neighbors had taken in when they moved away. My mother told me it was a boy, but I couldn't see the usual body part that would show that. I wanted a girl cat so I named him Susie.

As an adult I had several other cats, because of my husband's extreme allergy to cat hair, all our pets were dogs after we got married.

We had two deaf dalmatians, Brenda and Buttons, and a story I wrote about one of them is in the Chicken Soup for the Soul book, I Can't Believe My Dog Did That. We chose their names because Brenda means fiery and dalmations are fire dogs, and the spots on their hair look like buttons.

Bungee was a terrier mix and probably half corgi. We chose that name because his tail was striped when he was a puppy and he bounced around a lot. He had a long body, short legs and an undercoat similar to the coloring of corgis. Terriers are bred to kill rodents but corgis are herd dogs. Bungee loved to herd rodents. He'd take care of my daughter's guinia pig when she let it out on the floor.

We got a black mutt on Washington's Birthday, so we named him George. He was a stray found on inner city streets and was apparently brain damaged. He'd jump in the air and catch flies. Even when he caught a yellow jacket and it stung his tongue, he kept on jumping after bugs.

Now a sweet, snuggly poodle-bichon mix sits on my lap a lot. We named her Suds because her curly, white hair looks like soapsuds when she's clean. But she never stays white for long with all the dirt in our yard.

Those aren't the only pets I've had, but those are the most interesting ones.

Pets and Kids

I've always loved animals. When I was a kid my mother used to call me "the little mother of all the world" because I was so tender hearted I didn't even like to kill bugs.

But my mother wasn't fond of animals, so when I was little the only pets I was allowed to have were fish, and they're not exactly snuggly.

Later I was allowed to have a hamster and, finally, to accept a cat some kids had adopted while they spent the summer in the cabin next to ours when they went back to their real home. The cat was a male, but I hoped to talk him into having kittens so I named him Suzie.

However my mother insisted the cat could never be in the house at night or when nobody was home, and he could only be on the furniture if he were on somebody's lap. And I had to agree that if he got sick we couldn't take him to the vet because we couldn't afford it.

Of course as an adult I've had lots of pets, but the ones I had as a kid have been a big influence on my life.

Although the creatures can't really understand much of our language, some of them can recognize our emotions and will 'listen' when kids need to unload their feelings. And the animals are always there to show affection. 

While some families can't have animals with fur or feathers because of allergies, even reptiles, spiders or fish can help kids learn to accept responsibilities.

I think caring for pets is an important way to help children grow up to be caring adults.