Never Say Never

I've done it again.  I swore I would never do it and I am having to eat my words.  

Two summers ago, we took care of a friends' gecko for a night or two.  Actually, I think it was for one night and I happened to be out of town that night.  I was scared to death of that thing.  The owners were ominous with their warnings - don't put your hand in there - it might bite.  Now, I didn't know a thing about geckos but if it had potential to bite, I wasn't going anywhere near it!  I was never so glad to hand the biting reptile off to our friends with toads.  Yes, they have a multitude of toads living at their house (as pets), so feeding hopping things a meal of crickets and playing with slimy, wart-causing animals was nothing new.  Don't worry, they don't allow toads in the kitchen, so all is safe over there.

They didn't know it, but when my friend (the mom of the gecko owner) and the other friend (mom of the toad owner) discussed purchasing crickets, I sighed a huge relief that I would never have to purchase crickets.  or feed toads.  or lizards. or snakes. or anything else that might bite or be slimy or wartish.  I will also reveal that I had great admiration for them.  They fell into the "real mom" category in my book.  Yes, I have birthed 4 children and raised them to the healthy ages of 12, 11, 9 and 7, BUT I was not willing to go out of my comfort zone for my beloved offspring.  These "real moms" had ventured from comfort into the adventurous zone and they will reap great rewards for it in the future, I am sure.  But back then, I really didn't care.

This summer we travelled to Dallas for a few days.  We were visiting with friends who have 2 boys and a girl.  One afternoon I went up to check on their daughter, Kate (6), and Cole (6).  I found them playing quite contentedly with blankets and boxes.  They looked to be playing house.  I asked what they were doing and they said, "making a maze for Duchess!"  As I processed the whole maze thing and the dainty name, I began to search for the cute kitten that was buried under the blankets.  Imagine my surprise when I found a bumpy, leopard-type red lizard staring up at me from a box.  I tried to hide my surprise as I slowly backed up to get away from the lizard that had biting potential!  I headed right downstairs to find my friend (the non-pet-loving girl that she is).  I really was quite miffed!  She had entered the "real mom" state and had not clued me in (or warned me that there was a biting reptile in the house)!!!!!!

As my astonishment set in, I complimented Amy on her accomplishment - I was so impressed that she had agreed to raise a lizard.  She assured me that the Leopard-Spotted Gecko (the rock star of all geckos) is actually the easiest pet you could have.  You throw in a few crickets a few times a week, try to keep water in its bowl, and you have earned the title of "real mom".  I took her word for it and tried to stay as far away from that thing as possible.  Cole and Kate toted that thing around for 3 days straight.  They covered it up with blankets, talked to it, cajoled it through their maze, and put it to bed at night.  I have to admit, by the time we left, I was buying into the "easiest pet" claim.

Cole continued to talk about Duchess after we left Kate's house.  It was absolutely the calmest, coolest looking lizard I had ever seen, for sure!  The oldest boys were sold on it, and Caroline?  Well, she didn't get too close to it.  I couldn't blame her.  When I was a little younger than 10, I picked up lizards all of the time.  But once, I must have startled a big green chameleon that was on the swingset and it chomped down on my hand as if it were lunch.  That bite hurt and scared me to death and I haven't had any desire to touch a lizard since!

Yesterday we took a family trip to Fins N' Skins.  It's the local shop selling reptiles and fish. Cole celebrated his birthday on Friday and guess what he got!?!  

Meet Sahara, our rock star Gecko, who now resides in our home.  She/he is really quite cute and watching her snatch up crickets captured this family's attention last night.  It makes me happy to watch all 4 children (and my husband) roll out of bed in the morning and walk straight to the kitchen - to see how our yellow-stripey lizard is faring.

Just one more thing to add to my resume' - I'm a REAL MOM!