Gary

We did our best to be productive this morning. It was a co-op day, first of all, which always makes it difficult for us to get all our "work" in (as ridiculous as it might be for me to even feel that we need to get all our work in and go to co-op...where we also learn things). Second of all, we had a surprise coming that morning and the kids were buzzing with anticipation.

But they really did do their best to get some work done (some being the key word).

Here's Alexander reading Phoebe some stories on the bed while I got a little work done this morning:

They're so cute!

The big surprise was...this guy:

A bearded dragon. 

Here's the story. Well, here's two stories. The first is about Phoebe and the second is how Gary came into our lives. 

We told the kids about the lizard last night, except for Phoebe, who was already in bed when I got home from campus. Considering I don't get home until 10:00 at night, it's good that she is already in bed and very technically most of the other kids had also been sent to bed but weren't yet sleeping...so I told them about Gary...and they were very excited.

But Gary didn't have a name at this point.

So everyone was calling him The Bearded Dragon.

"I can't believe we're getting a bearded dragon!"

"I'm so excited for the bearded dragon!"

"What do bearded dragons eat?"

"Where are we going to keep the bearded dragon?"

"How big are bearded dragons?"

And let me tell you, Phoebe thought this whole affair was a Bad Idea. 

She was shocked we were even considering it. A dragon? Here? In our house?! 

Terrible idea. 

Of course, she didn't voice these thoughts. Instead she said things like, "I don't want a beer dragon. I don't think I like beer dragons. Beer dragons are scary."

It was Alexander who got right to the root of the problem:

"It's not like a dragon that breathes fire," he reassured her.

"Oh?" she said. "No fire?"

"Naw. It's just an ordinary lizard. They just are called bearded dragons."

"Oh!" she said, quickly changing her mind. "We can get a beer dragon. But can we still keep Waffles?"

"We will still keep Waffles."

"Then yay! A beer dragon!"

We're working on her pronunciation. 

With that out of the way, let me tell you about Gary (named after one of the creators of Dungeons and Dragons). 

33 weeks ago someone on the Buy Nothing Group was trying to rehome their bearded dragon. I said that my son would love the chance to take care of a reptile. We did not get selected for that bearded dragon.

And then yesterday some girl popped onto that same thread from 33 weeks ago, responding to my comment directly.

"My brother is moving and needs to rehome his bearded dragon. Is your son still interested in having one?"

And...we now have a bearded dragon.

We're working on making his home comfy (we need more substrate, obviously—this is the stuff they sent with him). And I informed Andrew today that, unfortunately for him, our next step is a dubia cockroach farm. 

This never would have happened if he (and the kids, particularly Benjamin who was craving a creepy crawly pet) would have agreed to my idea of a hissing cockroach as a pet. But, no! Hissing cockroaches are too gross of a pet, so here we are...with a bearded dragon...and an incoming dubia roach farm. 

Because, guys, crickets aren't cheap. Apparently.

So we're going to build a cockroach farm and...that will just be so fun. 

Apparently Gary is friendly and likes to socialize outside of his vivarium, but we're giving him a few days to acclimate before interacting with him too much. Here's Zoë Phoebe having a snack while chatting to Gary this evening (while all her siblings were off at their various activities).