Owen has reached that rite of passage of suburban child life: he wants to own a rodent. Lo and behold, our New Zealand friends need to give away their gerbil "Jeremy" because there is no way he could survive the 146-hour flight home.
And so I am experiencing the suburban Dad rite of passage of considering the practicality of this adoption.
This is what we know about Jeremy so far:
He has to be handled with gloves because he bites.
You have to wash your hands after handling him because he carries disease(s).
He gnaws toilet paper tubes loudly all through the night.
Julie talks about him like he's a person, which is really unsettling, e.g. "When Jeremy's here ... " and "After you pick up Jeremy...."
His wood shavings have to be changed once a week.
Gerbils live about 2-4 years so Julie figures Jeremy will be dead in 6 months or so. ("After Jeremy's dead...")
But most important, Owen thinks Jeremy is "really cute."
So, yeah, come say hi to Jeremy but definitely some time in the next 6 months.
3 comments:
If Jeremy can't survive the 146 hour flight home, how did Jeremy get here?
for some reason "on the wings of love" was the first answer that popped into my head so let's take a moment to remember that Jeffrey Osborne classic...
On the wings of love
Up and above the clouds
The only way to fly
Is on the wings of love
On the wings of love
Only the two of us
Together flying high
Flying high
Upon the wings of love
But actually I think maybe they got him stateside. I was told there was a stretch where he was 'failing to thrive' as we say but rebounded robustly.
Isn't it time for a Jeremy update?
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