Saturday, July 11, 2009

Please Advise

Have you read Slaughterhouse Five?
Owned a Guinea Pig?
Bought Kota the Triceratops?

Please share your experiences with any of the above, as they are all things I've been thinking about lately. Big Kid has been talking hamster/Guinea Pig talk big time and his birthday is coming up. We are definitely NOT in need of a rodent, but he would love it so much. I've had hamsters and could live without doing that again. (I just ran the idea by Mr. Ashley and he suggested packaging our cat Pearl into a tank with a wheel and a ball and saying she was the biggest hamster we could find and is all his now. Big Kid would be so pissed. Pearl would be too.)

Kota the dinosaur is on sale at Toys R Us and would probably make an ideal birthday gift for little kid. He LOVES dinosaurs and I kind of feel like one large gift would be better than lots of cheaper ones. I'm tired of stuff. But do I need a life-size baby dinosaur in the house? It does look pretty cool.

I don't know if Slaughterhouse Five would be my sort of book or not, but I keep coming across it. I've read Kurt Vonnegut before, but I don't remember what (which could be a bad thing). Sci-fi is not my thing, but I'm cool with time travel (to an extent). I'm reading Outlander now, as recommended by closet readers--it's good, more romance than I'm used to but I like it. I told Mr. Ashley if I ever travel back in time, cheating isn't cheating and same goes for him. Because technically, we wouldn't be married YET. Just wanted to get that cleared up, just in case.

Okay, please relay your book-reading/Guinea-pig-having/Triceratops-buying/time travel experiences and help me avoid future mistakes.

22 comments:

A. said...

You do not need a big baby dinosaur in the house. Seriously, how often do you think the kids would play with it after 2 weeks? (unless, of course, you only want the gift excitement to last a couple of weeks, then by all means, go for it). Remember somebody would have to dust the thing. Sure the boys would "rediscover" it in another couple months, but still -- you would have a big toy taking up big space in your house. It's got a large "footprint" space-wise.

Anonymous said...

Just Say No to Kota! You're better off giving little kid a small dinosaur that is just large enough not to be flushed down the toilet. Kids don't give a crap about gifts after they open them anyway. Give him a box of cereal wrapped up and he would probably be in heaven.

The Nice One said...

Guinea pigs are cool pets, we have two. They poop and eat a lot. But they are less work than a dog or a cat and they don't bite like nasty hamsters.

Ashley said...

Dude, I had a guinea pig farm! Made barrels full of money. Well barrels full to a ten year old.
Guinea pigs are awesome! They are sweet, don't bite, and only minimally smell.

Get BK a fucking guinea pig.

BTW. I'm drunk.

With love,
The Other Ashley

Melanie said...

Any (or most) Vonnegut is good Vonnegut. Of all his books, that is my sister's favorite.
I highly recommend a Guinea pig over a hamster. Having had both, a Guinea pig is more of a "pet" than a hamster. Yes, the poo is larger, but they are very sweet most of the time, especially if they are handled regularly. They love to eat fruit and get outside and play in the sun (in or out of their balls depending on temprament). My older sister's used to go out and sit in a clover patch and snack away. Reading about Big Kid's personality, I think he would really love one and be very good to it.
I don't know about the dino, but I highly agree that one big thing is so much better than a ton of tiny crap that you are surely going to be looking for a trash can for soon.

Cosmos said...

One of my friends got each of her children a guinea-pig. They are cute and the kids enjoy them. They are a fair amount of work, and they have exceeded their life expectancy. She thought they would live a couple of years and I think it's been around 6 years. She's tired of taking care of them, it's like they are demon pigs and will never die.

Anonymous said...

Don't know about the book or dinosaur but I had a Guinea Pig as a child. Her name was "Gumdrop". Once the novelty wore off I remember her being really smelly and she didn't really "play" in any way. So she was a pet with a lot of work and not much benefit.

Anonymous said...

I had a couple of guinea pigs in my classroom. They were very fun pets and the kids loved holding them and watching them run around the room in an exercise ball. They are a bit messy with the cedar chips and the cage can get stinky, but the positives definitely outweighed the negatives. Bunnies make great pets, too. They will use a liter box if one is provided. Also, a rabbits lifespan is longer than a guinea pig. Mine lived 11 years. Have fun!

miss. chief said...

yes, no and no.

i think you should read slaughterhouse five. it's pretty great, and worst case scenario, you'll have read a book everybody has been talking about forever and will have formed your own opinions about it rather than being all "whaaaat?"

i've also had hamsters before, and hated the shit out of them. based on that experience, i'd say hell no to rodents. they eat their own babies! i had BABY HAMSTER HEADS IN A CAGE with one stupid mom when i came home from school one day.

E said...

I would recommend the Time Travellers wife by Audrey Niff...something if you want a time travelling book. Read SH5 ages ago and can't remember it. Then again, it is a classic, apparently.

Jess said...

I vote no on the dinosaur. It would be thrilling for a little while, and then in the way.

Get him a small dinosaur and a family adventure to a dinosaur museum.

Emmy said...

We just got a guinea pig and he's a good bit of work and a little stinky. But he's sweet, kind of funny and doesn't bite. We're happy with him.

Anonymous said...

i have a 5 ft diansour "won" at six flags. it sucks. it's in the way in their room, where it was cool to them for about 1 week. sicne then, just continues to be in the way. i have no idea about the book. hamsters are good but seem to easily escape in every instance i am aware of. on the up side, they only live about 3 years. guinea pigs, we now have one of those. i say one b/c it was two but no one at petco told me that they need to have vitamin C added to their water or they die painfully and FAST of scurvey (however you spell that). so, good that it's fast but bad b/c there's no time for kid processing of said dying pig in the throwes of pain. 3am calls to cornell animal hospital. it was terrible. so, if you go for the pig, please get the vit C drops for their water and throw a carrot in their cage about 2 times a week or so. but, they're too fat to escape, so that's good. good luck. i say go for it. every kid needs a rodent.

Anonymous said...

I hated my guinea pig, he bit, but this is apparently rare and I just happened to get the demon spawn. If I didn't think Big Kid would be a little skeeved out by them, I would reccomend a rat. They're super sweet, will "dive" in water for treats, and can play hide-and-seek.

And I'm with everyone else, a small dino and a outing to a museum or something sounds much better.

elaines630 said...

Guinea Pigs are pretty cool! They are sweet and love attention, plus they make that squeaky noise when they are happy!

Catfish said...

Dude...don't you remember the Guinea pig in kindergarten??? NO WAY, and you know I've had my share of odd animals but guinea pigs creep me out and they bite.
Have fun! xo

Jennifer said...

Will Little Kid kill a guinea pig?

Jennifer said...

Hey, I just had an idea. Maybe this is the perfect time to get that hedgehog... you know.... for Big Kid.

Polka Dots & Protein Bars said...

My brother and I both had guinea pigs (Critter and Emmitt, respectively), and they were great starter pets. I think I'm still scarred from touching a dead Emmitt, though. Could Big Kid handle that? It was terrifying.

carolinesc7 said...

Glad to see some people like guinea pigs, but I had one when I was in elementary school. I had to keep it in my room, and it smelled so bad (even though the cage was cleaned regularly!) that I wanted to give it away. Therefore, now that my 5 year old is begging for one I HAVE to say NO.

What about a pot-belly pig? I've never owned one, but wanted one for awhile. I heard they are gently, loyal, they can use a litter box, and their poop doesn't stink if you feed them fruit!!

Anonymous said...

Go to Petsmart and let Big Kid read their age guides. All the limits for small pets are 8+. That will buy you a few more years.

Mel said...

I don't know if you want to enter the black hole that is Webkinz, but they have a guinea pig, and if you don't allow Big Kid to sucker you into a million Webkinz, the website is safe, kid friendly, and educational. He'd have a stuffed little guinea pig which doesn't smell, and a virtual version of it that he can feed, trivia questions to answer to earn Kinz Cash, etc. I guess it is kind of lame and ridiculous from an adult stand point, but kids really seem to love it. Might be worth a look.