Life was good. I'd finished all of my work for the week, my daughter was back to "almost" sleeping through the night, and Hubby had cleaned the kitchen. I was happy.
To celebrate our lazy afternoon, we decided to drive around Houston, visiting some of our local fish stores. We have a small, 75 gallon Salt-water aquarium; after a recent lighting upgrade, it was time to window shop for new corals and fishie-friends.
JUST fish and corals, mind you -- there was no intention, from either of us, to get anything else. Period.
Then it happened.
TWEET! TWEET!
The Little Lady saw the birds in the fish/general pet store. And, she was IN LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! She flapped her arms in excitement, squealed, and mimicked the ear-piercing shrieks coming from the Cockatiels and Parrots. It took all of Hubby's strength to keep her from lunging onto the dirty wire cages.
This is the moment when I went crazy.
"Do you want a birdie? Do you want Mommy to get you one?"
"Uh-huh!" She vigorously (VERY vigorously) nodded her head up and down, reaching for her new feathered friends.
I turned to my husband, my green eyes shining with insanity. "We could get her one! My mom and sisters had birds -- I could talk to them about the care. They sell the cages here too! Awww . . . look how cute that one is!" I pointed to a yellow and green . . . um, some kind of bird, and just managed, by the little bit of maturity left in my brain, to refrain from tweeting in unison with the birds.
The Little Lady was squawking by this point, her eyes dancing with ornithological delight.
I left the bird room and quickly headed to the bird supply section, gawking at the colorful cages - large and small - and the myriad of bird toys that, oddly, looked very similar to many of the Little Lady's toys. I was sold.
A bird book . . . I need a bird book. My type-A planning self was trying to gain control, sending messages throughout my brain: research, research, research FIRST!!!!
Pushing past the books on pugs, pomeranians, and poodles, I finally found a few ragged, tattered, NOT very new looking bird books. I employed my speed reading skills and skimmed the first few chapters of each one.
WHAT? You have to let the bird out of its cage DAILY to fly around the house?
WHAT? You have to offer fresh fruits and vegetables DAILY, minced to fit in their beaks? (what about all of the prepared bird food I just saw on the shelves?)
WHAT? You have to TRAIN them to like you?????????
WHAT? THEY CAN NIP YOU or GRIND YOUR SKIN IN THEIR BEAKS?????
OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!
I called my sister, looking for confirmation that these books were bunk.
I didn't get my confirmation.
Instead, I heard about how HORRIBLY they can hurt you, how HORRIBLY they shriek at all times of the day and night, and how HORRIBLY dirty they can be thanks to flying feathers.
That's when I decided a playground would be a better Christmas present for ALL of us.
Crazy Crisis Averted.
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20 Fabulous Followers had Something to Say:
Trust me-- you'll appreciate not getting the bird later!!
Like Grampa says, "It never hurts to wait!"
You call 75 gallon SMALL?? How about my 29 gallon? I'll trade ya!
Did you get any new fish? Fish are my much preferred pet to keep. ;)
Good for you for resisting your "birdie temptation." I've never had one, but it sounds like it may not have been the best choice for your daughter :-) Playground sounds much better!
I am so glad that you did not get a bird. Just the thought of getting one, made me want to hide in fear.
Holy crap, I was really scared you were going to tell me that you got a bird.
Whew.
Was the Little Lady very upset?
Oh they are mean little freakers! My sister had one that used to try to mand on my head and pull my hair.
Get a puppy instead! She'll love it! :-D
I have done the bird thing and yep, they are WORK and LOUD. Glad you averted that crisis!
Omg, I have a freak-bird-story today too!! It's a sign, run! Run far away from the birds!!
Fish are much more quiet aren't they?!
THat's why we don't have anymore birds! we had 5 at one point and it was just way too much! so they are all gone now. we gave 3 away, and 2 died. stay with the fish, they are quieter and cleaner!
LOL! I'm so glad you came to your senses. My DH's mom had a bird when he was little and he got some sort of evil disease from it! (His mom only recognized it because she'd read about someone getting it in a Harlequin Romance novel - how funny is that?) Anyhoo, so birds = bad. Good call. ;)
OMG - you are so totally like me - compulsive! I'm glad you didn't get the birds though - I used to have two parakeets and let me tell you....poop went EVERYWHERE...and everwhere NOT in the cage. On the floor, on teh wall, even the celing. Not to mention the noise. Oh, the noise. You made the right decision!
Glad to hear that you averted that crisis. I had a bird at five she only lived 4 or 5 months. I was traumatized.
Oh my gosh....that was too funny.
I had a bird once and it was not fun.
You should have gotten the bird. Who doesn't enjoy squawking, birdpoop smell and little love nibbles? Ü
Oh golly, I love coming to your blog! haha
All I could think the whole time I was reading was "nooooo, don't do it." Thank goodness you were able to reel in the insanity. ;-)
ha ha good girl!!!
oh my! thank goodness you got out of there without a bird! that could have been terrifying!!!
I had a bird growing up. Yes, they are dirty and loud and annoying.
I loved it an when it died...it was heart breaking.
I'm sure my mom hated it though because she usually was the one who cleaned the cage for me.
Good that you avoided it.
LMAO!
Ohmygoodness. I get the same way with my girl and kittens. I don't even LIKE cats, but she LOVES them and it's everything I can do to NOT get one for her! I have to wait till she's able to clean the litter herself. Then we'll talk!
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