Sid Is All Heart

I think it is just possible that my youngest daughter may have inherited my "lack of sympathy gene". Take this morning for example. We have three guinea pigs, one - Becky - was the class pet that Grady inherited, and he adores her. The second - Cruella - we purchased in the summer and the the third - Piggy, her offspring.  Initially we were only going to keep a baby if a girl, so they could all go in one cage. Sadly there was only one live birth, and it was a boy. 

I have to digress here, because you would not believe how you determine the sex of a baby guinea pig. You have to hold it on it's back and um, for want of a better description, massage the genital area. If something "pops out" it is a boy. You can only imagine. This was Rob's job. So there he is pig in hand, rubbing away at the nether regions, nothing is popping out, but the eyes have rolled back in its head, and it has the biggest smile on its face.  Based on that experiment we conclude Piggy is a girl. Just to be sure, a week or so later we take "her" back to Al at the pet store for a second opinion. Turns out Rob was rubbing in the wrong place - don't get me started - and as soon as Al tapped the pig, we realized very quickly Piggy is in fact a boy.   By this time, the whole family adores him, so there is no way he is going back to the pet store, plans have to be made to re-arrange cage occupation, in order to keep him.

Anyway back to my original theme. Sid has given up on the puppy idea, and is now asking for her own guinea pig when she turns twelve. Grady nixes that idea, by telling her - quite rightly - that their father will never allow four guinea pigs, (it was amazing he agreed to three). At which point Sidney turns to Grady and announces "It won't be 4, Becky will be dead by then".  That girl is heartless!  Poor Grady goes off to school, convinced the demise of his guinea pig is now imminent. I'm tempted to tell her Santa got eaten by a polar bear, that would teach her.