Skippy Jane Jones

   I finally broke down and adopted a gerbil for my well deserving students.  They begged and pleaded for a class pet.  As much as I love animals, I wasn't sure how I was going to take on the responsibility of my seventeen tots and a class pet that poops and flings bedding all over our mixed matched carpet.  We took a class vote and chose the name Skippy Jane Jones- after the notorious Skippy Jon Jones who takes my students imagination to a different level. 
      Our gerbil is white with red eyes.  She has been mistaken for a rat, a hamster , a mouse and a chinchilla.  Wait.. a chinchilla? Seriously?  I finally had to create a sign that says " Our new GERBIL Skippy Jane Jones".  I adopted her from a colleauge who mistakened her two gerbils as males.  When we returned from spring break, she realized one was a boy and one was a girl who got funky fresh gerbil style while everyone was on vacation. My students were so excited to hear the news as I was announcing it in circle time. 
     Explaining the roles of animal responsibility to a bunch of five and six year olds was interesting.  They had so many questions and so many different ideas on how to take care of a classroom pet.
  " We can train it to sit and roll over"
  "  We can buy a leash and walk it every day"
  " We can teach it letters and numbers and how to write"
    Then of course I have that one student who asks " do we have to wipe her butt?"
   I loved hearing all of their creative ideas for taking care of Skippy Jane Jones. I have never seen anyone so excited to have the responsibility to change her dirty cage.  If we were going to have a class pet, changing her cage was NOT going to be my responsibility. 
   Later that evening I found myself in the small pets section at Petsmart.  I stared at five different cages all of which were super cool.  Glow and the dark spinning wheels and different colored tubes sat boxed up on shelves awaiting my weakness to buythe " complete set".  I already spoil a dog, don't tell me I'm about to go all out on .... a gerbil.   I filled my cart with a state of the art cage for this little creature we were about to bring in to our beautifully chaotic classroom.  Skippy Jane Jones has no idea what she is getting herself in to.  It's one thing to be born in a third grade classroom where students aren't as hyper and hands on. 
 Poor Skippy Jane.
 One hundred and fifty dollars later, I arrived at home to assemble this quite expensive, glow in the dark, two leveled, spinning wheel frenzied gerbil cage.  I made sure to get the softest bedding so that our new friend would be comfortable.  My dog anxiously paced back in forth fearing that I would have the nerve to bring another animal in her royal castle.  Loela sniffed the bag aggressivly in hopes to find a little surprise for herself. 
             ....Sorry Loela, I didn't bring a bone home this time.
 I arrived at school the next morning with my cage and non healthy gerbil food in tote.  I can hear my students voices on the playground as they hang upside down on the monkey bars screaming " is that for OUR gerbil?"  I keep walking because if I turned around to answer, gerbil food , bedding and a three hour assembled cage would go crashing down.  They tried to beat me to the door but thank goodness for my assistant who stopped them in their hippity hoppity tracks.  I managed to get the cage placed on a sturdy surface next to my desk.  I put her bedding down and filled her tiny bowl with fresh food.  I snuck in a corn husk and some a granola bar thingy that is supposed to be good for their teeth.  It looked good.  I was tempted to take a bite. 
   I was really nervous about having this red-eyed long tail creature in my classroom, in close proximity to me.  I placed her in her cage and I watched her make herself at home.  She went right for her snack.  I giggled and said "going for the snack first huh? Looks like we have alot in common" Haha.  I studied her for a moment and wondered what her life will be like now that she is away from her mother and siblings.  It took me back to when my mom and dad left for Alabama.  I know what your thinking, how can a tiny gerbil pull a few heart strings?  I don't know.  I guess life without your parents whether they are hundres miles away or deceased, it could be scary.. even for a gerbil.  Right?
   My plans were to only let my students hold her.  I had no intensions of holding her, petting her or even sticking my fingers in her cage.  My assistant instantly became the " gerbil whisperer" as she spent most of her time holding and playing with Skippy Jane.  She continues to put the stapler down everytime she passes her cage to take a moment and talk to Skippy.  I would watch with pure amazement of how much this gerbil loves attention.  Usually, they will mind their own business or hide.  Skippy Jane, however, loves people.  Her personality is like a humans.  She knows how to get our attention and she even does little tricks like flips and stuff. 
    I'm finding myself becoming more in love with this gerbil haha.  When I come in my classroom in the mornings, she will greet me by climbing her cage to the very top and sticking her nose out.  If I am sitting at my desk, she will turn around and fall asleep, facing me in her little tube.  If I move, she moves.  If I go to the other side of the room, she will cling to her cage as if she is begging me to stay.  Silly right?  Way silly.  I laugh as I catch myself asking how her night was and talking to her as if she will one day respond-kind of like I do with my dog Loela haha.  When I hold Skippy Jane, she falls asleep in my hands.  She likes to crawl up your arm and snuggle in the crevice between the shoulder and the neck.  My assistant thinks she was a human once .  Now thats silly!!!! 
   My kids love Skippy Jane Jones and have forgotten about center time.  Instead they would rather get a book and sit quietly next to her cage and read to her.  She'll listen.  I swear it!!!  Welcome to our class Skippy Jane Jones.