Today in class we had a very interesting class conversation about pets. We also discussed the various types of pets that we can keep, and I came to the conclusion that my idea of a pet, is definitely not the same as these of my students. We were somehow NOT on the same wavelength. For me, a pet is an animal that you can cuddle and play with. A kitten or a puppy and even a bunny seems like the perfect pet, but no...not what my students had in mind.
Apparently I am old fashioned. Modern pets don't bark or meow or hop. They crawl and hiss and jump. Exotic pets they called it.
In a class of 27 students, we had four snakes, three spiders, two rats, two hedgehogs (Although one hedgehog died, which I think was a mistaken "hibernation" death) and believe it or not... one frog, two bearded dragons, two hamsters, and one parrot. The rest did not have pets.
I was amazed. Firstly because not even one child had a cat or a dog, or even a little bunny. What amazed me even more was the type of pets that the children kept.
How exactly do you play with a snake or a rat or a spider? It might be fun to have a frog or a hamster, and even a parrot, but ultimately what do you do with a frog, rat, bearded dragon or a hedgehog?
I am extremely glad that it was not a show and tell! That would have caused a circus in class. I am not the biggest fan of snakes and can you imagine if those snakes got loose and ate the rats?
A few years ago, I had a show and tell in Science class and one child asked his mom to bring HER snakes to school...why I agreed to that I don't know, but it literally caused chaos. In the end I was the one standing outside the classroom while she showed the snakes to the class. Like I said, NOT the biggest fan of snakes!
The snakes she brought to class looked similar to this snake....and yes, I don't care if it is poisonous or not, I don't like snakes.
In the end, we all learned something, and I guess that you are never too old to learn something new!
Do you keep any funny creatures in your home, or does your child own any type of exotic pet?