My mom loved ‘baby anythings.’ She would melt into a puddle, her heart on the floor as she oohed and ahhed over pictures or the sweet animals in the flesh.
She had three dogs – two chihuahuas and a toy poodle, who ALL stayed small and ALL sat in her chair with her whenever she sat down. She would cuddle, and talk in a baby voice FOR the doggies, giving each a definite personality.
My dad, who wanted to please my mom, sometimes brought home baby animals to try to please her. I will never forget a baby monkey that my dad brought home from a pet shop. They named him “Philbert,” and he basically hated everyone. One day he escaped from his cage and ran into the kitchen. My mother was soaking a head of lettuce in the sink. Philbert grabbed the head of lettuce and proceeded to run all over the house with it dripping – up and down draperies, over the carpet, onto the furniture, even up a wall or two as my mom ran around screeching. My dad tried to catch it, carrying a towel. He finally caught it. I remember seeing the monkey’s TEETH biting through the towel as he stuffed the monkey back into the cage and locked the door. (I was given custody of the head of lettuce to take back to the kitchen while my brother got more towels for the cleanup. (Philbert was taken back to the pet shop the next day to be adopted by someone else.)
We had baby rabbits as pets, too, because my mom fell in love with the ones at the store being sold at Easter. We brought home two gaily colored rabbits who became members of our family. We named them “Peter Rabbit” and “Welch Rabbit.” They grew out of their pastel-dyed fur and became quite sweet pets for us.
My mom saw a special on elephants on National Geographic. She oohed and ahhed, but by that point, had learned to look at my dad sternly and say firmly, “But, Jim. I DON’T want one!”
It’s a good thing that my husband doesn’t react to MY melting into a puddle over baby animals. We wouldn’t be able to get into our home because of all the cats and dogs, in particular, I would want to adopt… BUT – probably NOT an elephant… AREN’T THEY CUTE!?
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