Scenes From a Pet Store

When we first started homeschooling, oh…about a hundred years ago it feels like now, I often sought out cheap and educational venues to supplement Daughter’s education.  Hands down the pet store was one of our favourite “field trips”.  Absolutely free and simply rife with opportunities to observe and discuss animal behaviour, habitats (natural and caged) and care.

Of course now that said child is almost 18 (5 and a half months counts as almost), I’m hard pressed to convince her it’s as much fun as it was when she was 11. After all, it’s not the Comic Book Shoppe or EB Games. Well, poop to you, I’m going anyway.

So yes, I still occasionally go to the pet store to spend an hour just looking at critters. Usually I’m all about the kittens and cats because with four at home already, Hubby insists that just looking is as close as I’m going to get to another one.  However, the last time I was in, it was all about the rodents.

This little guy had me in stitches. He was scratching furiously at the glass and then he would run to his wheel do a few turnabouts and come back to the glass.  A good five minutes this went on while I watched, totally amused.

Too cute eh? Sitting in his food bowl, munching away.

Is it just me or is he giving me (and my camera) a very stern, “Hey, can’t you see I’m eating here?” look.  In any case, I snapped this pic and went to the next window before he started tossing his niblets.

Awwwwwwwwww, how freakin’ adorable is that? There must have been four or five of them all piled up together snoozing away. I so wanted to just cuddle them.

So there you have a few scenes from a pet store.  All politics (yes, pet stores can be a very hot button issue for many animal lovers and activists) aside, I enjoy my trips to watch the cats, birds, fish and even the reptiles. The best part is that it’s free.

What free things do you do with your (homeschool/unschooling/daycare/preschool) kids?