Fuzz

The first graders in Addison's school rotate through Science Lab as one of their weekly specials. She LOVES going to the lab because it is full of animals! Right before spring break, Addison won a lottery drawing and we brought Fuzz, the guinea pig, home for the vacation. I agreed to the guinea pig, having told her that I could handle anything furry, just not any kind of reptile who would have to be fed live insects. Turns out Fuzz had quite a little personality. It took a day or so for him to get over the trauma of the car ride and new surroundings, but after that, he was pretty cute. He climbed the sides of his cage each time we came in the room. He chattered to us, sniffed his little nose at us and begged for lettuce. The girls took great care of him and gave him daily snuggle time. I admit, by the end of the week, I liked the little guy. However, his smell and the surprising amount of work to care for a guinea pig offset the cute factor, and I decided one week was the perfect amount of time spent with the little rodent.

Funny Fuzz story. We set Fuzz's cage up in Addison's room and made an effort to keep Maggie the Lab apart from him. She has a shady history with cats, so there was no telling what she might do to a guinea pig. Maggie was in and out of the room some when we were around and seemed okay, but still, we weren't taking any chances. The second day of Fuzz's stay, we left the house for the first time.....and of course, we forgot to close Addison's door. We rushed home all the while Addison assuring me that Maggie had been in her room and she was just fine. I worried, not knowing what might happen if Maggie knew she had a free shot at the critter. Thank goodness we came home and all was well with the pets. There didn't seem to be any issue between the two, thank goodness. I had told Tommy if the dog ate the guinea pig we had to move! There was no way I could go back to school and explain that! As you can imagine, we didn't forget to shut the door anymore that week. Tuesday, with a sigh of relief, I returned Fuzz, happy and healthy, back to his rightful home.