Our newest family member...

Her name is ( I guess now I should say was) Princess. My 5 year old daughter received her as a reward for completing an animal care class at church. She was the most beautiful hermit crab you have ever seen, hence the name Princess. She was also the most loved hermit crab. Every time we go to the mall my children beg me to get them a hermit crab. I say no, we have enough people and pets already in our home. Had I known they were giving out hermit crabs at church we probably would have been sick that night. But now, after seeing the joy on my childs face caring for her pet, I feel sorry that I did not give in to her demands sooner.(please read that last sentence again with just a little bit of sarcasm) No really, it was very enjoyable watching her care for this tarantula in a shell. She made sure it had plenty of food and water everyday. The problem was Princess didn't feel the need to eat any of the food. After about 4 days she lost her first limb. OH NO! you may be saying. Well, it turns out this is common among store bought hermit crabs. So I did what any good mother would do and went to hermit-crabs .com, a very interesting and informative site about hermit crabs. We made all of the necessary changes in her living environment, known among those in the hermit crab world as a "crabitat". But, all of this was done a little too late. Princess lost another leg this morning, this time, not a good sign. She was gone by this afternoon. What do you do when your child's most favorite thing is gone? You guessed it, offer to buy her a new one. She said "no thanks, it will just die too." How do you deal with a 5 year old who is in despair? Right again, buy her one anyway and pray really hard that it lasts for awhile and assure her this time it will be better. The boys had also fallen in love with Princess. Hermit crabs, contrary to their name, do not like to be alone. So we didn't buy just one. We bought two. We had already spent the money upgrading the crabitat so why not get something to live in it. The new hermit or "land crabs" that we bought are very cool looking, for bugs in a shell. They are the strawberry variety, called this because they look like strawberries. They are huge. Everyone is very excited. One of them belongs to the boys. He (?) has been named Luke Sandwalker. The other belongs to the girls and has been named Sandy Shortcake. Beause the animals share a home, the owners have worked out a joint custody agreement. One night in the boys room and one night in the girls room.

I know I said I didn't want any more pets. I also said that when our dog died we wouldn't get another one. Well, we did . My kids are happy and I guess that is what's important. I know some may say we didn't give enough time for grieving. Some part of me agrees. But, if you have ever had to watch your children grieve over the loss of a beloved family pet, you would get a new dog the next day too. ( and new hermit crabs the same day)