If you haven’t read my first blog about what I learned from buying turtles on the street go read it. It answers important questions like:
Why would I allow myself to get suckered into purchasing an impulse pet?
And why were there turtles on the street for sale to begin with?
Have you read it? Okay good. Now back to my story. . .
So there we are, the 6 of us, standing in front of the tank with dozens of little turtles in it. My son, the ever thinking and always observant one says, “Mom–can these be our special treat for good behavior?” And in what I can only describe as an ambush, 5 pairs of cute little blue eyes stared up at me awaiting my response. Sensing a strategic moment, the Chinese lady mentions that they’re two for $10. That’s it. Just $10. And then my son offers the deal clencher: “Don’t you think they’d be good for home schooling mom?”
Ahhhh. . .home schooling. I’m a sucker for home schooling materials. And $10 is not that much for not one but two turtles. And those pairs of blue eyes are staring at me. . .and they all look like two turtles is all they’ll ever want in the world as long as they live. . .and the pressure was so great. . .and so I agreed. Two turtles for $10.
My lesson in impulse pet buying began almost immediately because you see, $10 was for two turtles. So she handed my son and my oldest daughter one turtle each. . .and put them in their hands. I stared at her and she innocently asked, “oh–do you need terrarium?” I dumbly nodded. “Oh terrarium plus food plus two turtle cost $14. Still good deal for my pitty little babies here. No?” And, I clearly could not argue with that. $14 was a good deal for a small terrarium and a small jar of turtle food. But on top of that the turtles were already being loved by all five of my small children. And surely the terrarium would be big enough because the turtles were really small. So $14 for two turtles, a small terrarium, plus a small jar of turtle pellets.
I’m so proud of myself because I have appeased my treat seeking, well behaved children and I’ve spent less than $20 to do it. I have visions of turtle lapbooks and mini lessons on the life cycle of a turtle. This could even lead the way to a whole unit study on pond ecology. Surely, this is the most brilliant parenting moment I’ve had. . .or not. Come back later for my next and last installment of turtles in the hood.