The Modern Day Family Pet

A few days ago Nathan was watching TV and seen a commercial for the new Marley and Me movie. He has asked several times to go see the movie "about the bad dog" and I just tell him maybe, we'll see, hoping that he will just forget about it. Well the commercials keep reminding him and so he just keeps asking. I would love to go and see the movie myself and would not mind taking Nathan but knowing that poor Marley is not immortal and will die at the end, has made me more then hesitant. After much thought I finally decided that this was not going to go away anytime soon and made the decision to just tell Nathan the truth. After all he is 4 1/2 right and we do have pets one of which is... a little on the older side! Thanks impart to the Catholic school he is also starting to understand that there is a heaven where people and animals go when they die. Granted he has his own version of how this works! All I'll say is that it involves Jesus with a parachute and a jet pack. But never the less he is starting to understand death, heaven and earth. I figured we would just have the conversation then he would be able to make his own decision on rather he wanted to see the "bad dog movie." Lets just say the conversation did not go over as smoothly as one would have hoped. It involved allot of tears and hysterics and some mumbling about how he loved Charlie and Maggie and wanted them to be his pets forever. I took a quick analysis of the situation and became panic stricken upon realizing that it was far to late to turn back. In a desperate attempt to spare my son from any more emotional scarring I assured him that when pets die you get to pick out new ones! This may not have been my best mommy moment however it did give his little overactive brain something to ponder other then the death of his beloved pet. He has not since then said anything more about our conversation, until today that is. Today he brought me a picture and with overflowing enthusiasm informed me that when our dog dies this was the new pet he wanted and that it could be purchased at the pet store for only $9.99................

I of course asked him where we would keep an animal like that and he very proudly answered in a cage with a door. But you have to put a stick in it for the bird to sit on and "seagles" like to eat slippery fish. When I asked him where we find slippery fish he stood tall (as if to convey to me that he had already fully thought this through) and confidently said at Pa Pa's!

Oh yeah, for those of you who are wondering NO I did not tell Nathan that having a Bald Eagle for a pet was not even remotely possible. After all he is 4 1/2 right!