Day 47

I have two dogs. One is little, and one is very big, which means we buy dog food on a regular basis. A lot of dog food. On a very regular basis. My big dog goes through 5 cups  a day, so a large bag of food usually only last 2 weeks or so. And of course he is allergic to everything except the really expensive stuff. Of course.

With all of us suffering from a touch of cabin fever, my husband, the 10-year old, and I decided to take a little road trip. The dogs needed food, and the local pet store would be a nice chance to maybe pet a bunny and browse the organic treat section (I'm on a new mission to actually get the little dog to behave and listen to me...). I know- exciting times. But beggars can't be choosers this time of year.

The pet store had both rabbits and ferrets out that you could pet. The 10-year old immediately decided he HAD to have a rabbit, and my husband began to make friends with one of the ferrets. Suprising even myself, I wandered to the wall that contained...vermin. You know- mice, rats, and hamsters- but cleaner and cuter than what you may see on the street so that you forget that they are...vermin. Supposedly rats are making a come back as pets, so I spent some time watching them and trying to get warm and fuzzy about them. But I just can't get past the tail. It's just....I don't know. Creepy.

There were some cute hamsters on those always-present wheels that were fun to watch. There was one cage in which 3 hamsters were all on the same wheel, scrabbling over each other like the Three Stooges. I guess it's a little pathetic how entertaining I thought that was, but again- beggars can't be choosers.

But the real show stopper was in one of the mice cages. Huddled in the back corner, a mother mouse laid on top of what seemed to be mountain of baby mice. At first I thought she was suffocating them, but shortly realized that she was actually feeding them.The babies writhed and wriggled, trying to push and shove their way to a teat. As I looked closer yet (it was like a car accident- I couldn't look away) I saw that Mama Mouse was nibbling on something. Again, I was alarmed, assuming she was nibbling on one of the babies- I mean she's a wild animal right? But no, I realized MM was not eating her own young- she was just calmly nibbling on a piece of mouse kibble.

Wow. What a profound moment. Not only did I feel bad for assuming she was a Mommy murderer, I had to take a moment and wonder at how ironic it was to see a mouse do something so....human. I mean, talk about multi-tasking! She was no different than me, helping with homework while cooking dinner at the same time. Or any mother of a toddler who washes dishes with a child slung on their hip. And no mother of small children actually eats dinner like a "normal" human being- sitting down to a hot meal only comes only a few times before the age of 4. Being the mom of one baby was exhausting- I can't imagine wht it would be like to have...I don't know, there looked like a dozen or so. I mean- my nipples were sore from just one kid breast feeding....

So although today's isn't Mother's Day, I celebrate and salute the multi-tasking, cold-food-eating, don't-even-think-about-touching-my-nipple moms out there. I'm thinking about sending this pic in to Hallmark to use for a Mother's Day card- any suggsetions on what should be written on the inside? :)