The bedroom/hamster/basement accord has been reached!

[digitalwanderer]

After a muchly head-splitting and patience testing effort over the last few hours I have successfully succeeded in the following:

1. Justin's bed is going into Maddy's room

2. Maddy's bunk bed is going into Justin's room

3. Once both of the above are accomplished and both rooms are clean, (that's part of the moving the beds about bit, but we cleaned Justs room this week and Maddy's ain't bad), Maddy will be allowed to get a hamster & habitrail for her room and will HAVE to sleep in her bedroom with it.

4. I also worked in explaining that the insurance company people came and said they can't cover squat, but they did photo documentation for a FEMA claim and now I get the great pleasure of taking pictures and assigning dollar values to everything I pitch from my basement, which will be most everything.

The happy news with that is I successfully explained it to the kids and got their permission to toss everything including a bunch of their old toys since they're now filthily beyond redemption.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Someone over at EB asked me what I was talking about, so here's the backstory:

My six year old daughter has been sleeping with my 9 year old son in his queen bed for a year or so for fear of sleeping alone. MauiMom, (member here, a good friend, and my son's best friend's mom), gave us her son's old bunk bed a few months ago and my daughter got it.

But she still refuses to sleep alone in her room and sleeps in her brothers, so I'm moving the beds. The bunk bed makes more sense in there and my daughter has agreed that if I put Justin's bed in her room and get her a hamster to sleep in her room with her at night that she'll sleep in her own room from now on.

I was pricing habitrails and crap, and they ain't too bad. She's already decided on this one, and it seems a cheap price to pay to get her to help me clean her room/keep it clean/start sleeping in it.

 

[RussSchultz]

She'll sleep in her own room until the first night with the hampster.

Those bleeping things are nocternal and will scratch, dig, chew, gnaw all night long.

 

[digitalwanderer]

That's what the night light and the radio alarm clock with sleep feature is for.

Plus she'll find the noise comforting, she'll know she's not alone.

 

[RussSchultz]

Mark my words.

Its not comforting to have those little rascals gnawing on their cage. Its not quiet, either.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Hey, I'm not exactly rooting for another pet around here! I have enough trouble keeping up with 2 cats, 3 dogs, and two goldfishes.....an added furball to my list of chores is not something I want!

But my 6 year old desperately does, and she lived up to her half of the agreement so I'll live up to mine. I just got done cleaning/moving the beds/resetting up the rooms and now all I gotta go do is mount a small shelf on the wall by the bunk bed for a water cup and then let grandma take Maddy to get herself a new hamster friend tomorrow.

(Aren't I nice? Letting grandma be the good guy AND letting her foot the bill for it, win/win. )

 

[LunchBox]

Kewl! at least some sort of compromise was done.
Just wanted to warn you that hamsters stink real bad if their cage doesn't get cleaned often...
It reeks of pee and you know...

 

[digitalwanderer]

Yeah, I think I used to like the cedar chip bedding stuff for just that reason...but I'm pretty good about keeping cat litter boxes clean and these little plastic ones look pretty easy to keep clean. In fact the review of the pink one she likes/wants/needs more than air or life got really high marks in reviews for the bedding area to be very clean and that the urine didn't stick to the plastic.

I didn't really get what that meant until now, but I think I do after reading your post.

But seriously, I got two large cats and you wouldn't know it from the odors. I'm weird though for my reasons; I don't do it to keep things smelling fresh/nice, I do it because I want my friends to have a more comfortable/better/happier lifestyle.

Clean cat litter every few days does that, they're easy. I'm just hoping Russ is either wrong about the noise or else it helps my duaghter know she's not alone.

 

[RussSchultz]

I just remember back to my childhood, having a hampster. Getting really frustrated with it and moving it to the laundry room so that I could sleep.

It was also gobs of fun when it escaped in the middle of the night. Lots of midnight screams and chases. Good times.

 

[Randell]

Russ is right, Hamsters in kids bedroom is a nightmare. They belong in the utility room etc.

 

[Citrous]

I just remember back to my childhood, having a hampster. Getting really frustrated with it and moving it to the laundry room so that I could sleep.

It was also gobs of fun when it escaped in the middle of the night. Lots of midnight screams and chases. Good times.

QFT.

I had to put mine in the hall bathroom in the tub and close the door. I am a semi-grown adult male and it sounds like small bucktoothed demons are trying to scratch their way into your dreams. I didn't sleep right for a few weeks until I finally started moving him all the time. What sucks is the first hamster I had was the complete opposite. More like a very small puppy then the nasty little rodent I got on the second round. Argh.

 

[Bobbler]

I used to have 2 hamsters when I was a lot younger (<10) -- they were both in my room at night, and I don't recall ever being annoyed or unable to sleep through it.

I do recall sucking them up with a vacuum while cleaning the cage one time, though.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Alrighty, we got two GERBILS yesterday instead of one hamster...one for each child. Both females, names are Rainbow and Fox.

Changed habitats and grabbed this one which seems to work really nicely, and all are happy and content. (Plus we went to PetSmart so it was only $32 for the habitat. )

8pm tonight is the end of the moratorium on petting/playing with the gerbils, should be interesting. Cute and curious critters, without a lot of fear of us. I think it should go well.