Your first real PET..
They say that pets become a part of the family don't they and I think, for us, that definitely rings true! We absolutely love having Honey at home. Don't get me wrong she is a whirlwind and makes every day an ... experience, let's say (haha!) ... but I couldn't imagine coming home from work and her not being there going wild, jumping up for a cuddle.
She's a real little light in our lives, coming along when we needed her, and growing up alongside Alfie. Watching them together had me thinking recently about my very first pet and the mark left when they leave.
I remember mum and dad coming home with two guineas pigs - one for my brother, one for me. We'd had a family dog and a family cat, but the piggies were ours. Our very own first pets to take responsibility for, to love and care for.
They lived for quite a while and became a part of the family just the same as our dog and cat did. First thing I'd do coming in from school is run to the piggies and give them all my attention; they'd come out their little home to roam, getting cuddles all the time. Mine was definitely an emotional support pig too and was cried on more times than I care to admit!
What was your first pet?
Post piggies came Jacko the cockatiel. Don't ask about his name, I can't for the life of me remember where that came from. He was funny though, like a naughty toddler always getting in trouble, being a handful... Mischief and mayhem.
It's believed around 60% of the UK population has a pet - a pretty hefty number if you think about it. The variation in all of those pet lovers will be wild though. We've got Honey, our dog. I have a friend who has horses, another who has cats, know someone with a cat and a dog, a friend of a friend with a full farm... some of you will find your comfort in the reptilian variety: perhaps a snake, a bearded dragon. I can't bear to think about tarantulas roaming homes so I'll leave that one right there!
Alfie has been asking for a pet to call his own recently... it feels like too big of a commitment for us right now though. Being the 3rd child between Michael and I, Honey gets shipped off to grandma and grandads whenever we go travelling or have things to do where she'd be at home for a long time on her own, and I'm not quite sure I can face adding a whole set up for a rodent or piggy into that too just now. Though it would work wonders for his learning of independence and caring for something that isn't Lego, wouldn't it? Maybe something to consider in the new year... maybe.