A Pet For Noodle

Our daughter, like most other children around the world since time began, has been yearning for a pet. She has begged us for years now, "please please please can just have one?" Being the devoted parents we are...the answer, of course, was no.

Hey we really had a dilemma. It's not like we just callously ignored her pleas. But as her birthday approached this year, and her pet petitions increased, we felt we had to do some research.

Of course there are dogs. What parent doesn't picture their children frolicking with a puppy through autumn leaf piles on a cool fall day? Well some do, I'm sure. But, dogs are completely out of the question because of Seth's allergies. He breaks into hives and asthma just looking at a dog.

Most of the other furry animals are out of the question because of me. I get a stuffy nose and itchy eyes from cats, guinea pigs, rats, rabbits, etc. Even without the burden of allergies, most of these pets are a pain to care for. They scratch your furniture (cats) or get fur everywhere (dogs/cats/etc.) or you have to get a pet sitter anytime you want to go out of town (all the others).

So, finally, after much deliberation, and several days researching the internet and pet stores, we decided on a pet for Noodle. We brought her home this morning.

Meet Sophie the Corn snake.

I went to the pet store and bought her along with all the necessary habitat items, then brought her home and quietly set everything up in Noodle's room. We brought Noodle in and said, "Surprise!"
She has been so thrilled with Sophie, that she has been saying, "Thank you Mommy and Daddy!" approximately every 45 seconds all day long.