Spike!

Before Little Miss's 6th Birthday we asked her what she wanted... I asked her if she wanted a bike and she replied "Mom, you already got me one of those...found it in the garage a few days ago." Little Stinker!

The only thing she asked for was an animal "just like bubby's". We had bought him a guinea pig and I decided that we didn't need two in the house. I could just imagine the arguments about whose guinea pig was the best. My other fear was that, somehow, she'd wind up with a guinea that actually was better and liked to be held and petted. So, after much thought we decided on a gerbil because it actually stays up during the day and has less tendency to bite than a hamster.

Meet Spike!

Kinda cute in a mousy kind of way!

I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, most of the time. This little piece right here connects to his cage and came with some litter because supposedly gerbils/hamsters/other small critters can be pottie trained to only go in there! Can you read gullible on my forehead from where you're sitting?? It actually came with a little yellow shovel to scoop the poo as well. Can you believe I seriously fell for it? Duh!

I've found out what it REALLY is. It's an escape pod. It's where he goes to get out of his cage. There's nothing worse then sitting here at my computer, happily typing away, and see this little white, furry critter scurry under my chair. We've found him everytime so far, but I always have this fear he's going to get into the vents or something. I think my mother planted that in my mind when I was a child and my hamster kept getting out of it's cage.

So here's my question?? How do you persuade the child to get rid of it??