A little life lesson with a milkshake on the side

When The B Man turned 5 he got a dwarf hamster for his birthday.  That was just a little over two years ago.

Then the week or so before Easter (of this year) Tim and I started to notice that he/she (gender never determined) wasn’t doing so well and we’ve been on “hamster watch” ever since.

I won’t go into all the not-so-pleasant, sickly rodent details but it was physically obvious that he/she was quite ill.

So, since we were leaving town for Easter and weren’t sure just how bad off “Hamsty” was, we let The B Man know that he/she wasn’t doing so well and made sure he paid his tearful respects before we got on the road.

Upon our return Hamsty was still kickin’.

That was not the case when we got home from school pick-up TODAY.

I noticed last night that he/she was breathing REALLY slowly and not moving from the same spot in his/her cage. I figured the end was near. And fortunately, it was.

I say fortunately because I can only guess how much pain that poor little soul was in and frankly I’m relieved that he/she is now pain free and on to hamster heaven.  I can see that little buggar going a million miles a minute on his little wheel up there now…

Anyway, The B Man was too busy reading a book when we got home to notice so I Tim and I IMed back and forth about how to handle it.

I ultimately decided to break it to him just before we left the house for an out-of-the-norm weeknight dinner at the local diner – the one that serves awesome chocolate milkshakes.  Nothing like a milkshake to lessen the blow, right?

He cried really hard and looked at him/her in its cage and then I carried my sweet boy to the car with his tears dripping on to my shoulder.

(p.s. 7 year olds are pretty heavy)

At dinner The B Man asked me (because he’s pretty ‘quick’), “Mom, did you just get me a milkshake to make me feel better about Hamsty?!”

Pretend response: “No honey, I also got it so that I could have some!!”

Real response: “Well, that’s not the only reason but I did think it might make you feel a little better.”

He smiled at me and said it did.

It made me want to buy us him another one.

Don’t judge.  They are really good.

Anyway, we got home and gave the little guy/gal a proper burial in a check book box (thanks to my MIL for that suggestion) out in the backyard.  We put some stones above the dirt and placed a tiny bouquet of flowers on top of his/her grave.

I was reminded of that one Cosby Show when their fish died and they all gathered around the toilet.  Anyone else remember that one?

Rest In Peace Hamsty.  You’re already missed.

Yes, even by me.

Have you ever lost a pet that your child/children were really attached to?  If so, how did you deal with it?