NEVER SAY NEVER Cont’d Z-Kissinger

give up, I feel good about our dialogue.

Only a few minutes later, the same excited and energized Matthew, enters once again, practically out of breath. (Who needs a treadmill? Just run back and forth between the neighbor's house and ours!) I am now starting to feel slightly annoyed with his persistence, while thinking at the same time, he was born to be a salesman.

"Mom! Can we have a rat?! They're giving away a rat, for free....and the cage, too!" Without presenting him time to utter another word, and with a slightly elevated voice, I enunciate emphatically, "Nooo! We are not going to have a rat in this house! Period!”

Understanding the tone of my voice and the enlarged opening of my eyes, Matthew leaves....once again. By now, I am sincerely wondering who these neighbors are and why they're doing this to me. I've always been a good neighbor to those I live near. What did I do to deserve this? This isn't fair to my son or me.

Out of curiosity, I googled "rats as pets," and was surprised to see all the entries. To my delight, everything I read about rats was positive. They're intelligent, affectionate, clean, fun, and easy to train. Those characteristics sounded familiar......hell, those are the same ones I looked for in a husband way back when. Surely, these articles weren't implying that men are similar to rats?! Excuse me for allowing my thoughts to stray.....

After my son came back for the fourth time, I'm not sure who was more shocked, Matthew or me, when I announce that I would be willing to`give "Boots" (the rat's name) a try if the neighbors were willing to loan us Boots on a trial basis in case we didn't like her. (Remember, I'm middle age and menopausal.....which means I am at times irrational.) Needless to say, Matthew's mouth fell open and he immediately ran out of the house (imagine that) yelling, "We’re Getting a rat! We’re getting a rat! !" without giving me a chance to change my mind....which I may have if he had lingered around. (....being menopausal.) To end this ratty saga, I immediately fell in love with Boots (unlike with my husband to be 28 years ago) and decided to keep her. Not only is she pretty, she's fun to hold, enjoyable to observe, and playful with her black beady eyes and twitching whiskers. Three days later, we acquired "Muffin," her mommy, once again, on a trial basis to see how living with two rats would fare. Not only with the thought, "If one is fun, two would be more fun," but mostly so Boots would have a playmate when we are not spending time with her. I can honestly report that we are all enjoying our two new pets. Never did I think I would own a rat - let alone, two of them! The moral of this story is, "Never say never!" Or, "If at first you don't succeed, try try again!"

About The Author

Patricia Zollmann-Kissinger hasn’t blogged with us in awhile but her posts are still with us to enjoy. She has six children, four boys and two girls. (God bless her!) She also has lots of beautiful grandchildren.

By trade, she is a Mathematics teacher with degrees in Mathematics and Secondary Education from Rockhurst University and a Masters from UMKC in Counseling. After teaching in schools for two years, she became a private Math tutor and has been doing so for about 30 years. Between her love of teaching and her kids, she started homeschooling in 1987 and continued until her kids were in high school. Her passions include Mathematics, writing, running, photography, reading, learning, and, of course, her kids! Please visit her website at: pzkphotos.com and like her on FB. ◆