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Jul 28 2016

penny-less

Posted by hayley
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For months Songbird had begged us for a “real” pet—caterpillars and yard toads were no longer fulfilling our animal lover’s heart’s desire.

She found her match last year in a copper-colored hamster named Penny.

Losing Penny | greyhouseharbor.com

The whole family grew to adore Penny’s sweet disposition, late night hamster balling, occasional jailbreak escapades, big ears and curious whiskers. She was quite the traveler; tagging along on trips to Georgia, Washington DC, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. Songbird demonstrated maturity in her care and commitment to Penny, taking on the feeding and cleaning responsibilities without complaint.

Losing Penny | greyhouseharbor.com

So it was with great sadness that, just hours after last seeing her healthy and active, Songbird discovered Penny had passed over the rainbow bridge last night. No sickness or trauma, it was just her time.

Losing your first pet is hard.

Losing Penny | greyhouseharbor.com

This afternoon we held a memorial service. Penny was placed inside a beautiful box and Songbird fashioned a white cross from popsicle sticks. With the “Enya” Pandora station playing in the background, we all dressed up and shared our favorite memories of Penny; stories of creating cardboard labyrinths, her love of broccoli, peeking her nose from dollhouse windows, and sneaking her past hotel front desk clerks.

Losing Penny | greyhouseharbor.com

In our yard is a flower box that Songbird built with her grandma. Every spring she picks and plants – caring for her patch all season. Since “Penny’s favorite color was yellow,” we decided that it was most appropriate to bury her beneath Songbird’s marigolds. That way, her body will feed the garden and she’ll never leave us.

Losing Penny | greyhouseharbor.com

It might seem silly to mourn for a rodent. But, I’ve heard it said that as parents we should listen earnestly to anything on our child’s heart, no matter what. If we listen to the small things when they are small, they will trust us with the big things when they are big. Because to them, all of it has always been big stuff.

Losing Penny | greyhouseharbor.com

Rest well, sweet Penny. You will be missed. (At least until we get a dog.)

Losing Penny | greyhouseharbor.com

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Tags: our life, parenting, pets, songbird
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2 comments
Dec 7 2015

bug’s first pet

Posted by hayley
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Back in September, Bug and I caught a beautiful insect. After some research we learned it was an Angle-winged Katydid.

Pet Katydid greyhouseharbor.com

A gentle and friendly little thing, we decided to attempt to domesticate him. Bug declared it his “first pet ever” (true) and named him Diggers. (They don’t dig at all, actually, but the name is a residual impulse from Bug’s fading obsession with construction equipment.)

Pet Katydid greyhouseharbor.com

Like any responsible pet owner, Bug bought Diggers a proper home and cut some maple tree leaves from the backyard for munching. We even got a book at the library with katydid characters and researched their life cycle online.

Pet Katydid greyhouseharbor.com

In the evenings, we would let Diggers out to stretch his legs and wings on supervised excursions. He wouldn’t get far, as katydids are more awkward jump-gliders than actual flyers. Quite the globe-trotter, this one.

Pet Katydid greyhouseharbor.com

Pet Katydid greyhouseharbor.com

Bug never worked up the courage to hold him. But he loved having a “pet” to talk to and call his own.

Pet Katydid greyhouseharbor.com

After all the maple trees lost their leaves, we kept our katydid happy with romaine lettuce. Sadly, after 2 months in captivity, Diggers passed away. I like to think we extended his life by a few weeks, as the cold weather would have had issued him the same fate even earlier.

With tears streaming down his face, I hugged Bug for a long time — the world of my sweet little boy rocked by the passing of his first pet. To him, the loss was so real and painful. But, through this beautiful green critter, God gave me an opportunity to help my son learn one of life’s hard truths. We talked about how important all life is, how we are only here on Earth a short time, and how we each have a special role to play in a much bigger plan.

Diggers played his role as “first pet” perfectly. May he rest in peace.

Pet Katydid greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: bug, pets
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I'm Hayley. Wife and mother by day, DIY enthusiast by night. Fueled by sweet tea and jelly beans, I own power tools and know how to use them. Consider yourself warned.

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