The Boy's class is not unlike most other first grade classes in that it has a class pet. There are in fact two class pets. Sibling hamsters named Flash and Dash. The little rodents can't spend the weekend unsupervised so families volunteer to be responsible for them over the weekend.
Our weekend was picked long before we knew that it would be straddled by a last day of work and a first day of orientation for a new job taking place in Ohio necessitating flying out early Sunday morning. I found out at drop off for Pickle that the best option for quiet hamsters was to keep them separated. They aren't friendly with each other so confined to a single cage would mean a night of tussles and the need to intervene. Not my idea of a good hamster sitting gig. New Kid and I went to pick up the little critters and helped The Boy's teacher change the bedding in the cages. One of the other students in the class helped me get them to Van due to the fact I had a one year old on my hip.
My number one mission as caretaker was the safe return of our charge. With a three and one year old I was very concerned a Lennie moment would occur and one of the little ladies would accidentally cause the demise due to "petting". Lucky for me and the hamsters no such thing happened. There were a few tense moments when they were in their exercise balls and New Kid would pick them up but crisis was quickly averted. All in all it was a very easy experience and everyone enjoyed it.
Getting the pets back to school was an adventure as well. It involved taking all three kids and the 2 hamsters in a little before school started. Pickle had to push New Kid in the stroller and she isn't the best driver. The stroller was run off curbs and into door jambs but New Kid didn't seem to mind too much. I'm sorry there aren't any pictures of this part as my hands were full and I was trying to get Pickle to understand how to use the crosswalk while pushing her sister.
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