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"You already have a cat," I
said to Sarah. "Why do you want a hamster, too?"
"’Cause they're cute –
and I want one."
Personally, I blame Hampton and the Hampsters. About a
year ago, my eleven-
year-old daughter, Sarah, was at a friend's house, searching for
"how to dance"
on the Internet. What came up, improbably, was the HampsterDance site
link.
They clicked on it. Four furry cartoon "hampsters" did a little
dance while
sped up human voices sang in the background. The girls squealed with
delight. Here are some lyrics from "HampsterDance":
Dee da dee da dee
da do do
Dee da dee da dee da do do
Dee da dee da dee da do do
Dee
da dee da dee da dee da dee
(repeat)
Naturally, she had to have
the CD named Happy Times Ten. It turns out the
hamsters have names, too: Hampton,
Fuzzy, Hado and Dixie – two girls and two
guys. Now we could hear the Hamspters all
day, all night, all the time!
(If you remember Alvin and the Chipmunks,
you know what this music sounds
like. For a grown-up, a little Hampton goes a long
way.)
Gradually, her interest spread from fictitious hamsters to real
ones. A few of
her friends had owned hamsters, Sarah told me. “Which friends?” I
asked.
"Well, Abby had one, but it died."
"Oh, what a
shame. Who else?"
"Alison had two, but they
died."
Something made me wonder about these little guys. It seemed they
were not
destined to "live long and prosper." How would Sarah react when her little
pet
suddenly shuffled off this mortal coil? A shrug and a smile was her
answer.
After weeks of deliberation, my wife and I decided that Sarah
could have her
hamster if she contributed to the cost. Then came the shopping. We
got the
hamster home (assembled by everyone, including her little brother), a hamster
ball (they go inside) and a book, "Hampsters as a New Pet." Sarah read the
book
right away – a good sign.
The last step was to get the actual hamster. We
had already been to Petco, but
they were sold out. They said they'd call when the
new hamsters came in.
Sarah's going to name hers Spiff.
How will
this harrowing hamster adventure turn out? Happy times ten, I hope.
Dee
da dee da dee da do do.
Note: Spiff the hamster is now in my
daughter's bedroom and is sleeping like a
baby. This is because he spends all night
exercising in his wheel, going up and
down his tower, and running through tubes. If
I installed a complete gym in
there, he'd probably be doing cardio machines and
pumping iron.
He really is cute, though. Light brown, roundish and fuzzy.
You should get one.
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