fun and games

When I have been gone for a day and a half, the kids are all over me for attention. We have developed a new (wildly fun game) called long vowel, short vowel. 4 doesn't tire of this.

"You be the short vowel." she says. I have to stand on one side of the hall and call out the short vowel sound. If she can call the long vowel sound for the same letter and reach the other wall before I touch her, she wins. If she gets "caught", she gets to be the short vowel.

We have some strange games in our household!

6 is completing her first book report. One of her favourite parts of the book was insect haiku with a scorpion's comments (ie. pretentious, redundant etc.). We spent an hour talking about and writing our own haiku yesterday.

We now have 5 rats. The 2 new babies came home around Christmas. One of them developed a sneeze and was making congested sounds last week. 6 had trouble sleeping for the worry. We took the rat to the vets. Sure enough, she has an upper respiratory infection and needs antibiotics. 'Winter' is regaining her health, and I am $70. 00 poorer.

Vet recommended we separate the 2 babies, so we tried to convert the gerbil cage into 2 apartments. Zig zag on the bottom level, Winter on the upper floor. The square hole between the two levels was filled with a round food bowl. The only available space was a small triangular space where the circle and square did not overlap.

10pm. Screaming child. Cage rattling. Winter's head is stuck between the bowl and the cage and she is squeaking in pain and anxiety. Can't move the bowl - rat is strangling. Saved the day with wire cutters. Rat was fine, but now we have 2 rats without a cage. There is not pet store open at 10pm. The self-congratulatory elation fades quickly! Now what? We found an old bird cage in the garage and converted it to a rat cage. Whew!

Next day, our 14 year old dog has a trip to the vets. One ear is puffed up – seems to be full of water. Turns out it is filled with blood. The only cure is surgery – to the tune of $500. If left alone, it will eventually dry up and become deformed. I guiltily decide that we can live with a deformed ear.

At the farm, the pain seems to be under control better. New complication is a flare-up of the prostate problem that has been plaguing him for years. Early yesterday his urine is filled with blood. All look to me for direction. “Drink lots of water and we’ll see how it goes” I say. Thankfully, his doctor gave the same advise this morning!

And so begins another week…