Vincent

Nine years ago, I had to have my cat put to sleep. I had had that cat since about one month after I got married.  Elle was 2 and I was very pregnant with Ava.  I never wanted another pet again.  The kids have begged for dogs, cats, anything!  With each extra child, the conviction that I didn't every want any kind of pet grew stronger....I didn't even feel like I could add the responsibility of a house plant to what I was already caring for.  And then Ava come home talking about hermit crabs....specifically four hermit crabs in her classroom at school.  The teacher was going to draw names and give those kids the hermit crabs to take home, as long as their parents agreed to get all the necessary items to give it a good home.  I'm not easily moved by children begging....but there was something about how Ava's eyes looked when she talked about those hermit crabs and how desperately badly she just wanted to have a chance to get her name drawn to take one home. Shawn and I looked at each other, both able to read the others' expression so well....we knew we'd be getting a pet.  So we signed her permission slip and waiting for fate.  That Friday Ava came BEAMING out of school with a huge smile on her face.....her name had been drawn!  We had the weekend to get everything we needed.  On Tuesday morning, the day the hermit crabs were coming home, Ava went to her hermit crab and asked the teacher if she could check on it because it didn't seem to be doing much.  She picked it up and barely jiggled it and the hermit crab fell out...it was dead.  Side note: I was heartbroken when I got an email that morning from the teacher telling me the details of what had happened.  I wanted to be right there in that classroom rocking Ava and telling her it would be okay.  Now she wouldn't have been okay with that, but her teacher did say that she started crying.  Heartbreaking.  Back to the story.  So her teacher promised her that she'd go get her another crab and have it for her the next day.  Ava was pretty bummed when she came home that day.  That evening we were watching a movie together and the doorbell rang...it was her teacher stopping by the house to deliver her hermit crab!!!!!  I just grabbed the teacher and hugged her!  Ava was in disbelief that her teacher had actually come to her house to deliver her new pet!!!  After her teacher left, we put the hermit crab, which we named Vincent, into his new home and it was quite a funny scene.  We all sat there for a good 3 minutes, silently watching the shell that wasn't moving at all...waiting for something to happen.  We had read that sometimes it takes hermit crabs a few days to get used to their new surroundings so we crossed our fingers and went to bed...praying he'd still be alive in the morning.  The next morning we woke to find sand everywhere!  All in his water bowl, all in his food bowl, outside the container he's in (it has some holes in it) and Vincent had moved!  We were all thrilled!!!  Right now, he's the perfect pet for us...very low maintenance (and easily replaced if he dies : / )

Here's a picture with the kids and their new pet.  Ava's holding him and Elle made him a sign for his home....and he happens to be sitting under a Van Gogh painting.