• Contact
  • Blog
  • Professional ghost writing
  • Bio
  • About
  • Press
  • Jackie’s Book
  • Blogs I Love
  • Where’s Jackie?

Venting Sessions

~ where moms can let it out

Venting Sessions

Tag Archives: pets

Turtle down

26 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by Jackie in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

begging for a pet turtle, mothers, pets, snapping turtles, turtles

You know the Rolling Stones song, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (1969, Let it Bleed)?

My favorite line from that song is, “You can’t always get what you want… you get what you need”.

But never, in my 45 years, did I imagine that this line would apply so perfectly to a pet turtle entering our lives.

Allow me to explain. You see, our kids have been begging for a pet turtle over the past, oh I don’t know, eight years. The begging actually reminds me of an episode of The Goldbergs where Barry constantly asks his dad for a dog. Our son really, really, really wanted a pet turtle. And my daughter decided after a few years that she really, really wanted a pet turtle too. Through the years, it would go something like this:

“Can we get a turtle, Mom?”

“Sorry, no.”

“Can we get a turtle, Mom?”

“No. Ask your dad.”

“Can we get a turtle, Dad?”

“No.”

“Can we get a turtle, Dad?”

“No.”

“Can we get a turtle, Dad?”

“Uh, let me think about it,…No.”

You get the idea. Let me mention here that we have two dogs. Two rambunctious Golden Retrievers that are so loyal, we’re almost positive the oldest thinks I’m his real mother. So it’s not as if we are the worst img_1944-digbyparents in the world who don’t allow any pets in the house. (Not that NOT having a pet is a bad thing. Oh lordy, I can just feel the comments coming.) We just haven’t heard positive things about turtles, from emitting off-putting odors to transmitting potential diseases. So we’ve steered clear of them, praying our kids would one day forget about the little critters.

Then one day last week, while unpacking a new side table from an oversized cardboard box, my husband noticed a small toy fall out of the packaging. Thinking it was one of our son’s old mini Godzilla toys, he tossed it on top of his work bench in the garage. He went about his day, and came back an hour or so later to find that the small “toy” had moved. Not fallen. But moved from the workbench to the garage floor. He looked closer and realized it was moving. The toy wasn’t a toy, it was a moving rock. No, it was a turtle! A tiny turtle. And the box was labeled from Indonesia. This turtle is about the size of a mini plastic army guy. No bigger than a potato chip. And able to jump from a workbench in a single bound.

So my husband gathered some leaves and placed it in a safe box. We were surprised yet secretly overjoyed that we were now the parents of two kids, two Golden retrievers, four goldfish, a koi and a turtle.

I could just picture the smiles.

The looks on our kids’ faces.

Even our teenager!

“Where is it?”

“I want to name it Lola!”

“No, not Lola!”

“Can we keep it, Mom?”

“Can we keep it, Dad?”

“Yeah, can we?” Even I started to chime in, hoping it would be named Lola.

Then we Googled turtles.

We found out it’s a snapping turtle. A baby snapping turtle. These turtles can apparently live up to 80 years or something crazy like that and weigh like 80 pounds, which leads my very witty husband to decide, “I’m going to raise it like it’s my own.”

Now we’re all in love with a moving rock that my son has named Digby Bevan James. (No idea why, but my daughter and I had named our second dog, so Lola was out.)

We take it down to Petco. We’re all anticipating positive feedback.

But they tell us that we shouldn’t keep it. Not because of a disease or off-putting odor. Simply because, “You don’t want to keep it.”

Fan-fubbing-tastic. First we don’t want a turtle, then we have a turtle, then we all need the turtle, then we can’t have it.

We all want it at this point. So we took the turtle to an animal shelter to get a second opinion.

They recommend that we release it into the wild. On our own.

So before we say our final goodbyes, we’ve decided to temporarily place it a water-logged area in our backyard. We will be taking it to a bigger pond soon. Together. To release it back into the wild, where baby snapping turtles hiding in packages apparently originating from Indonesia belong.

Even though we were all secretly hoping that Mr. Digby Bevan James would be with us for the next 20 years. I guess it’s time to say goodbye.

Because you can’t always get what you want. You get what you need.

 

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • More
  • Email
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Find Jackie on Momunity!

Find Jackie on Providence Moms Collective!

Looking for a ghost writer? Contact Jackie today!

Book available on Amazon!

She was a cast member of the 2017 and 2013 Listen to Your Mother Shows!

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow Venting Sessions on Facebook

Follow Venting Sessions on Facebook

Latest from Twitter:

  • RT @SheriMcShane: 5 Favorite Halloween Treats whenthekidsgotobed.com/2021/10/15/5-f… 7 months ago
  • Saturday fun: Something Lilly is on sale in my closet! posh.mk/mTjMHSHfEjb 8 months ago
  • Cheers to getting back to a new normal! ventingsessions.com/2021/07/16/che… 10 months ago
  • When you see what this dry cleaner tag says, it might shock you. But then again, we’re all in this together. instagram.com/p/CPYHD1bnZQun… 12 months ago
  • A Lilly dress for how much? Whaaaat? posh.mk/mRMa1kXOfgb 1 year ago
Follow @JackieHennesse1

Archived Posts

Previous Posts

May 2022
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Jul    

How to Spread Sanity on a Cracker Wins IndieReader Discovery Award!

I signed books at the Boston Book Festival!

Posts by Category

  • General Mommentary
  • Survey Says
  • Mommy Musings
  • Uncategorized
  • Little Links
  • You’re Still A Good Mom If
  • Random Recipies
  • Oh, Mother

Jackie hosted a fun “wine and cheese” book signing at Books on the Square March 1!

Enjoy wine, cheese dip & a reading with Jackie from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Books on the Square in Providence's Wayland Square

Jackie was part of Barnes & Noble Local Authors’ Night!

Jackie joined fellow local authors at the Warwick Barnes & Noble!

Jackie spoke at the Southern New England Women’s Expo

Jackie was a featured presenter at the SENE Women's Expo Sept. 30!

Categories

Mom Bloggers Club

Paypal

Archives

  • July 2021
  • March 2020
  • October 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011

Blogroll

  • Blog
  • Discuss
  • Get Inspired
  • Get Polling
  • Get Support
  • Learn WordPress.com
  • Susie Brown's web site
  • Theme Showcase
  • WordPress Planet
  • WordPress.com News

  • Follow Following
    • Venting Sessions
    • Join 187 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Venting Sessions
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: