Zhu Zhu Hamster Pets

Every year for Christmas, my two girls ask if they could get a pet dog. The answer has always been a stern no. Part of the reason is because of the obvious: owning a pet is a big responsibility. The other reason is because my girls have a track record of killing their pets or other people's pets. My parents had two chihuahua dogs. Both past away years ago. No, my girls didn't kill them. They died of old age. Owning the pets for about 15 years limited my family from traveling because we had no one to watch them. Aside from the usual daily clean ups of urine and poop, there were expensive medical costs such as neutering the male dog and spaying the female dog, vaccinations, and surgeries. I don't want to be bound to that kind of commitment again.

Now onto the other part of the reason, my girls' deadly hands. The first aquarium that we got, my eldest daughter, who was a toddler then, would always pull a chair and dip her hands in the water to try to grab the goldfishes. They all died prematurely. The second set of fishes we bought also met their demise. My dad had two mini turtles. The ones that are about a little bigger than an inch. My girls decided to take them out from the tank and play with them. One got lost and we never found it. They were not allow to get near the turtle tank again. My brother's pet hamster died after my 8 year-old spun it in circles after it had finished eating. The hamster choked on the food it stored in the side pouches of its cheeks.

Both girls asked for a pet dog this year for Christmas and I said no. Then they asked if they could get a hamster, and the answer was again a no. In October, while Halloween costume shopping, my girls asked if I could buy them Zhu Zhu hamster pets. The answer was another no. My eldest daughter said Zhu Zhus are toy hamsters and later that day, she googled and showed me how they looked like. I told them I was going to think about it. Coincidentally, my brother told me he planned on getting his nieces Zhu Zhu hamster pets for Christmas. He said he was going to buy them early because Zhu Zhus would be hard to buy in December. Well, he bought four Zhu Zhus, two for each girl, in October and gave them to my girls.

My girls were absolutely ecstatic when they saw their Zhu Zhus. These hamsters make squeaky sound and move on four wheels. Probably 10 minutes into playing with their Zhu Zhus, one of the hamsters got lost. We searched around the living room and found it under a chair. I told my girls to keep an eye on their hamsters. They lost their hamster around the house a couple of times in a single day. The girls played with their Zhu Zhus probably for another day and lost interest in them. What a waste of money! My second daughter gave me her two Zhu Zhus and showed me the dust and hair that got caught in their wheels. My brother doesn't have kids yet and he's a softie to his nieces. Whatever they want, they get from him. I told him being a parent sometimes mean saying no and making unpopular decisions. He just shrugged. I requested from him for all future purchases for his nieces, get educational stuff like books or learning CDs. His reply was a "yeah, yeah".

Zhu Zhu hamster pets:


The two wheels on the back where hair and dust get caught in: