Pets Part I

When Trevan was potty training I told him he could pick out two fish if he would either pee standing up or keep his clothes on when he went to the bathroom (he used to strip down to go potty, and occassionally still does). He finally did it for a week and we let him pick out two fish.

He picked out a white beta fish, and a blue beta fish. He also chose their names, Toby 1, and Toby 2. Sadly, Toby 1 has passed on, and we had our ceremonial flushing. To replace Toby 1, we let Trevan pick out a new fish which was another colorful beta that he named, XO.

Leaving the pet store:

Me: Where did you get the name XO?

Trevan: I just did.

Me: How do you spell it E-X-X-O?

Trevan: X!O! It's just two letters Mom! ( Duh!)

Meet Toby 2

A very mellow fish, except when it's hungry.

Meet X-O

This fish is a little crazy. It took a while for it to get comfortable in it's new surroundings. XO makes itself bigger to intimidate me. It's pretty funny, but looks really beautiful.

John was shocked when Trevan told him he was going to be able to get some fish, because John was fully aware of my, 'no pets in the house' policy, and 'no pets at all until I am done having kids' policy (I don't need something else to clean up after, or another child to train) . "Who's going to clean the fish bowls?" John asked. "You," I replied.

Here is where my story really gets started. I love animals, but I do not love what comes along with them. I had to clean the fish bowl probably three times while I worked for the American Cancer Society (in my three years there), and I was totally disgusted! It was horrible!! So, John knew I wouldn't be cleaning any fish bowls in the future. SIDENOTE: I also feel bad that they only have a tiny space to live in.

I also had A LOT of cats growing up. They lived outdoors, except if it was really, really cold. I loved them, still like them, but I don't want any. Maybe an outdoor cat, later, when my kids can take care of it (and do they really anyway?), but even though I like them, I still think they are kind of gross! Even as a kid, I did not want the cat's butt to rub up against me. ICKY!

I have a slight germy, ickiness, yucky-ness, dirty phobia issue. (Phobia is a strong word, but something akin to phobia) I don't clean bathrooms (don't worry, John agreed to clean all the bathrooms before we even got married), I think water spots on glasses is gross (I am a little better about that now. My family makes fun of me because they say I have to "examine" all the dishes before I use them), the smell of pet food makes me want to vomit, even fish food (after feeding my cats when I was younger I treated my hands as if I had just touched raw meat), and me cleaning up animal poop? I don't think so.

For example of my germy issues, when I was in my "tweens" and teens, we went on 50 mile hikes with these old canteens (the kind where you can't see inside of them), and even though Dad said he sterilized them, I would not drink out of them (because I couldn't see inside to make sure they were really clean). I basically drank when we got into camp every night, and everyone else used my water throughout the day. I think the same things when there are coolers to drink out of, and I thought the same things during my volleyball or basketball games when drinking out of the water bottles (did they really get cleaned?).

Despite the "ickiness" of animals, I would love to have a Newfoundland, or a St. Bernard (the drool, I know), but I would have to get over some of my issues first, obviously.

Dear Friends (98% of all of our friends have pets), please don't think I hate your pets, just know that is why I wash my hands so quickly after petting them.

I really do love animals,

I just don't want any myself (and now you know why).