rats!

Kate's been asking for a pet for almost as long as she's been able to talk. In recent years she's suggested a large number of possibilities, from dogs and cats to goats and birds and fish and guinea pigs and most recently, turtles, which is what she asked Santa for last month.

Each suggestion was met with a quick list from me about why such and such wouldn't make a good addition to our family. And I had good reasons, not that she would agree, but I also felt bad that she didn't have a pet.

A discussion with a friend about pet rats a few days ago got me thinking though, and I realized that they could be just the thing for us, that is, if the girls even liked rats, which up until they I didn't know. A visit to a special pet store with a large number of fancy rats answered that question, and now we have a couple of black and white rats, Spot and Scabbers, named by the girls.



And Kate is in rat heaven.