I like both Spiders and Snakes

Its a well known fact that its very hard to be a cool mom, especially where teenagers are concerned.This is especially true when you are possessed of one of each and what pleases one (getting to all his ballgames)  displeases the other (who wants to see you waiting outside all her ballet classes)But there is one area that I have always been considered by son, and even daughter, and most of their friends as a totally cool mom, and that is my tolerance of unusal pets.

Over the years there have been dogs, cats, turtles, birds, numerous fish, various species of geckos, iguanas, tarantulas, and most recently a ball python.The usual reaction of friends is "You've got to be kidding." or "Better you than me."  But the usual reaction of the kids' friends is "wow you have a cool mom."

And the truth is I kind of like all the reptiles and amphibians. I dont even mind the tarantulas as long as they stay in their cages

. The only creatures I really dont like are small 4 legged mamals. The kind you dont invite into your house but come anyway. I dont even really care for hamsters, guinea pigs or squirrels either. Squirrels are nothing but bushytailed rats as far as I'm concerned.Pigoens are rats with wings.


When my son was younger, he was afraid of dogs. And although we had cats in and out of our life, none were actually his. (Whether cats actually belong to anyone is a post unto itself) So when he was small we had various reptiles and amphibians. We had a couple small iguanas for awhile, but our most enduring relationship was with geckos. A popular kids nature show at the time was narrated by a gecko named Henry, so every gecko we had was named Henry. Over the course of about 4 years we had 7  geckos of various types (there was some overlap involved) all named Henry. When my son was 6 we aquired a Lab, who has been with us ever since
.

. She is now 12 and its showing, which may explain why the son (and his dad) have been taking a greater interest in exotic pets lately. There were the taratulas ELF (eight legged freak) and ORBIT (orange bity thing) Also  recently we had a leopard gecko also named Henry (thats up to Henry VIII if your keeping count.) When the last Henry died we decided to let the boy have his hearts desire and buy a snake. After some research, and analysis of his pocket book he settled on a ball python.

Of course he is very young yet, and only eats about 1 small mouse a week, but he is very fun to watch and so far has been enduring the attrociously hot weather just fine. But then snakes have never bothered me either. As previously mention, nothing much bothers me except rodents. In fact one of the vicarious pleasures of the snake is seeing him chase and capture his weekly white mouse.

Perhaps I shouldnt admit to all this. Perhaps the cool mom quotient would be higher if I claimed to hate the creatures but tolerated them anyway with that sacrificial mom squaring of the shoulders. But I would rather enjoy them as much as the kids do.

In fact I have been thinking of letting another turtle into my life.....