The Intrepid Rosie

Everyone knows that homeschooling families must have a rodent in a cage, to teach the children responsiblity and kindness to animals. In our home, it's Rosie the much beloved guinea pig. We rescued her last year from the animal shelter, as some irresponsible gits bred over 150 of them and could no longer handle their care. My heartstrings were pulled as I read about the little babies, and how they would have to be put to sleep if they weren't adopted. So we piled into the minivan and hightailed it over to the MSPCA, where Rosie found us.

In her year with us, she has traveled across state lines, participated in the Guinea Pig Olympics, had a line of clothing designed and sewed for her by Anna and her friends, and is now the star of a play written by Anna in which she risks life and limb to save a bird stuck in a tree. She has also had the classics read to her, and received a very cool tunnel to play in for her birthday. It's quite like having another child (which I would LOVE, so I may need to keep accumulating small furry animals to squelch that), but without the diapers. Her incarnations include Spider Pig, Wonder Pig and, for reasons only understood by the children, Scaryface.

The other day, we were playing with Rosie in the yard and Anna decided to teach her to read by showing her the "go" sign we have and moving her, then restraining her by showing her the "stop" sign. It did flash through my mind that, if we taught the Pig to read, our money woes would be over. So we did a quick lesson on Pavlov, and gave Rosie treats to go and stop. Who knows if it really worked - look for us on Letterman!

No pet is more lovable with the kids and warm on your lap in winter. She's silky soft and never bites, even when forced to play in a block condo built by the kids. Our home is more fun with her! Now to figure out how to answer the questions about why we would need a boy Pig to make baby ones....that's for another day.