April 2, 2004 - Friday
By all of the accounts I've received, Harry is still very fond of the Guinea Pig at his school. He rarely asks to hold "Spooky" immediately upon arrival each morning, as it seems he used to do a month ago, but I'm told that just about every day he still wants his time with her. And, if I understand correctly, he remains the most commitment of the class to her. But, Harry will be leaving that classroom soon, and therefore Spooky, too. So today I brought him to the pet store. Conveniently, they were having a sale on Guinea Pigs. This (right and here) is the new "Spooky."

This was not the first time I'd brought Harry to the pet store mentally ready to buy him a Guinea Pig. Maybe that time a month or so ago he just wasn't ready. Maybe he just didn't understand that if he had said the word he could have brought one home. I even asked him which one he liked best and things like that. But, there are other animals like ferrits, fish, mice, hamsters, and parrots to look at and Harry was plenty excited in other ways. If he's to get a pet and be responsible for it, it seemed to me that he ought to really want it. So, that time we went home with no pet and he didn't seem to know the difference.

Maybe, like he can be so often, Harry was just being coy that time. Heck, there was some of that today, too. As a matter of fact, I really couldn't say at what point today Harry realized that we might actually get to take a Guinea Pig home. On the way to Mary's I tried to talk a little about Guinea Pigs and just before we went inside Mary's to get Jeremy I told him I thought we'd go to the pet store and look at them. He smiled, seemingly getting the idea. But, then after getting Jeremy he said he just wanted to go home and watch his new library shark video. I still went to the pet store nonetheless.

"Do you think you'll miss Spooky when you start going to the new school?" I asked him on the way to the store, then added "you know, it won't be long before you start going there," trying to introduce the idea of a time frame to the move.
"Yes," he said.
"I afraid that the new school doesn't have a Guinea Pig."
"Maybe the new school can get a Guinea Pig and I can name it Spooky," he said, seemingly missing the point of our venture to the pet store. But then, on the way into the store he said, seemingly understanding, "I don't want a Guinea Pig. I want a hamster." Then when we got to the Guinea Pigs, "I want that one, no that one."

He held two Guinea Pigs. The new Spooky was the second one he held, but the one he had originally pointed to. He seemed to get the point by then. But just the same he was flighty, turning to look at the ferrits and the white mice more than I would have imagined for such a big day. He did, I should say, get right down to business when we moved to the supply shelves identifying the things we would need, or at least the things Spooky at school had in her cage. And when I paused, knelt down, and softly asked if he really wanted a Guinea Pig at home, whether he understood that it was a big responsibility, and whether he would be able to care for it, he said "yes," confidently, if still coyly, but at last with a joyful pride and smile that he just couldn't completely hold back. Certainly by then I knew he knew. More importantly, I knew he was ready. Although, he still surprised me later with how much he really did know.

Harry held Spooky in his arms the whole way home, and out of the little cardboard carrying box they sell Guinea Pigs in. I let him do it because I know from school that he is both confident and capable. But, when we got home he effectively showed his mother and I how to set up the cage. Really! Here we are looking for directions everywhere and Harry's right there saying, "this goes here," "no, this goes like this," "let me show you." At first we thought he was just excited, but sometime during the process of setting up the new Spooky's new cage, we just starting asking Harry what to do next. And, he knew.


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