#sol17: Food Pets

Day 15 of #sol17

     A few weeks ago my kids and I went to the bank, which was located inside of a grocery store.  I made my deposit, and we went on our merry way.  

     When we got outside, I saw that my daughter was holding a little orange.  We did not actually go shopping, so I was a bit confused.  

      "Where did you get that orange?"

      "It was on the floor at the bank.  I kicked it."

      "So why are you holding it now?"

      "It's my new pet orange."

      That's great.  A pet orange.  My strong willed daughter took it home, and washed her new pet.  She gave it a name (which I do not remember) and carried it around the house for a few hours.  The next day she probably greeted him again, but there were no big, elaborate bonding experiences between the two.  In fact, I think my husband tossed him in the garbage when she wasn't looking.  

     Weeks went by, and bedtime arrived, and that's when she suddenly remembered her pet orange.  She came running down to the kitchen on a mission to find him.

      "Where is my pet orange?" she demanded.

      "In the garbage,"  replied her dad.  "You would have had to call him Moldy if we had kept him."

      She burst into tears.  She is always one disappointment away from a face full of tears.  In this case, I had no sympathy.  

      "K, it was an orange."

      She looked up at me through those big tears, and just stared.  I could tell she was thinking of her comeback, and then said, "Fine.  I'll just find another pet that is food."  She walked around the kitchen, inspecting the various options that were at her fingertips: a cookie, an apple, a fruit cup.  She finally made her choice (only because I kept reminding her that it was bedtime) and a new family member was born.  Welcome to the world, Lollipop O'Donnell.

     She took her pet, dressed him up a bit, left him on the kitchen table, and promptly forgot about him forever.  Kids.