TCOBaG – kNow ThiNkIng AllOwEd

Sometimes you get to thinking that it is easier to put off an answer with your kids when they’re asking for something.

You think, okay, I can say ‘yes’ now, and put a little time on it, and by the time that time comes, they’ll have forgotten all about it, or changed their minds.

Right?

Wrong!

At least for us.

Several years ago (about a third of my oldest son’s life ago) Bynn asked for a pet for his birthday. They’ve often asked for pets, but it really isn’t something we’re set up for being gone sometimes for weeks at a time, and besides, Dad (me!) knows he’ll end up with the dog walking/poop scooping/feeding responsibilities within a week.

So, my wife suggested a turtle. Sounds safe/easy enough, right? Then she cavalierly promised Bynn that on his 11th birthday he could have a turtle. He was turning 8 then.

He didn’t forget. In fact, every birthday since, and several times in between, he’s mentioned that on his 11th he expected, and was really looking forward to getting, a turtle.

We, well, mostly I, always give both of my sons presents on each other’s birthdays. I started this when Ahn was too young to understand why big brother got a present and he didn’t. Besides, one of anything is usually not that much fun, so we’ve continued to buy 2 of just about everything; different sizes, colors, but usually pretty similar.

So, for the turtles:

Back in December (his birthday is the 25th of January) we started researching more carefully on the turtle situation. We decided on our usual 2 even though the pet shop clerk says turtles don’t get lonely and one would be comfortable living alone.

Cheap turtles are out there. But, and this is a big but, they also grow to be about a foot wide which wasn’t something we wanted to become an issue.

We ended up with these guys pictured below. Still not sure what kind of turtle they are though the Japanese name literally translates as ‘helmet scent turtle’. Not much help

Surprisingly, they’re really a lot more interesting as pets than you might expect though.

They’re fairly active. They walk around, stand on their hind legs to stretch and get air (though they’ve yet to climb onto their floating rock island). They come out in a flash to get their food, and happily eat away.

The food is fresh frozen. Seems to be mostly mosquito larva. That’s a little inconvenient, thawing out a small cube and keeping the rest in the refrigerator (not sure how that might be on a cracker, but if I get hungry enough, I’ll let you know )

You can click the photos to see larger images.

My wife absolutely loves them. She also fell in love with another little guy while at the shop several times, so we ended up going back later and now are the proud ‘parents’ of Janni (for January, very original, eh? )

Janni is currently living on our coffee table in the living room. The light sometimes causes a glare on our tv, but it’s really kind of fun for now to sit annd watch him doing his Prison Break impression and aiding him when he flips himself on his back while trying to scale the walls.

Janni at home

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