Buttercup

For the first 15.5 years of our marriage we didn't have any pets. I am a cat person, and Paul is a dog person. Paul is allergic to cats, and we usually travel too much to have a dog. From the end of December 2016 through the beginning of February 2020, we had two guinea pigs. Sadly, Ian's much loved guinea pig, Patches, had to be put to sleep unexpectedly in early February. We adopted two male rabbits two days later. After they were in our home for almost 10 weeks, we surrendered them back to the SPCA and purchased a new guinea pig. We've had a total of five different pets in our home thus far in 2020, and we're planning on purchasing another guinea pig on Saturday. Instead of placing a grocery order online with Weis or Walmart this week, Paul is planning to go to the Aldi in Williamsport this coming weekend. Nadia will go with him so she can hopefully pick a guinea pig at the pet store. When I came down this morning I felt a little sad because I always eat a banana first thing in the morning, and for weeks I had been sharing my banana with Cocoa and Coal. It felt strange to eat the whole banana myself. Similarly, when I removed an empty roll of toilet paper, I thought of the bunnies as for the last 2 months we hadn't put any of those in the garbage because the bunnies liked to eat the little cardboard tubes. When Ian came down this morning, the first thing he said was that he was relieved he didn't have poop duty this morning. Nadia and Ian took turns cleaning out the bunny cage. So far Buttercup seems like an excellent addition to our family. I've definitely been holding her more than I held Patches or Jenna in one day. After all the stress of the bunnies, it's very soothing to have a little furry body purring away under my chin. Ian interacted far more with Buttercup today than he ever did in one day with Coal. I personally never aspired to own a guinea pig (or a rabbit), but I really think guinea pigs are just the right pet for our family. They don't bite (the bunnies bit the kids a few times). The only way the rabbits could communicate was by thumping, and I didn't appreciate being awakened in the night by their loud thumping. Guinea pigs use a variety of sounds to communicate including squeaking and purring. Guinea pigs definitely are more prone to snuggling than our bunnies were. Nadia and Ian love to practice the piano with a guinea pig on their lap or sitting next to them, and Ian loves to read with his guinea pig on or beside him. If Oliver continues to want a fish tank and fish for his birthday in August, then 2020 will definitely be the year we had the greatest number of pets spend some time in our house! Hopefully all three guinea pigs will get along nicely, but if not we can separate them as we do have two cages now. This morning we moved Jenna to the larger cage with Buttercup. We're hoping maybe she'll have a sort of motherly instinct toward our new little arrival.

The kids have been very motivated to finish their subjects earlier than planned. Oliver did three math lessons yesterday! Ian and Nadia did 2.5 history lessons today. We have only two days left of school, but they will be shorter days. Oliver and Nadia are done with spelling. Nadia passed her final word today, "camouflageable." All of them have finished math, science, handwriting, grammar, and writing. Today I posted the list of activities that they can each pick between to earn the privilege of watching tv, playing the Wii (or Switch), or using an iPad during the next four months. We'll finish history tomorrow and Spanish plus Life of Fred on Thursday. They are all still reading every day, and Nadia and Ian are still practicing the piano. Nadia is still memorizing 3 verses a day Monday through Saturday. On Sundays she reviews and recites a chapter previously memorized plus learns one new verse. She finished memorizing 2 Peter today! Prior to this year she had never memorized an entire book of the Bible before, but in 2020 she has already memorized 1 Peter and 2 Peter. Tomorrow she will start memorizing Hebrews chapter 7. She has already memorized the first 6 chapters. She's really hoping that COVID-19 won't cause the nationals to be cancelled in Oklahoma in July. Although life has definitely been abnormal over the past month, I keep reminding myself it's far better than what I experienced in 2012 while on bedrest in the hospital. Although we're pretty much confined to our home (aside from walks in the neighborhood when the weather is nice), I am NOT confined to a bed like I was for 10 weeks in 2012. Also, I spent the vast majority of that time in a hospital around 90 minutes away from my husband, toddler, and preschooler. Aside from visits from medical professionals, I was alone almost all the time. I don't know how many weeks this lockdown will end up lasting, but I am not spending it alone. We see Paul a little bit six days a week (and all day on Sunday), and I'm with my three kids for about 14 hours a day seven days a week, which is so much better than spending it all alone.