write.as/jonbeckett

I thought I was going to be standing on the touchline of a rugby pitch at 10am this morning. After sliding out of bed a little after 8am, and finding my way to the shower, I heard my other half shuffle path the downstairs bathroom door towards the kitchen.

“Where are the kids? Am I not taking them to rugby?”

Apparently not. I won’t go into why, but I’ll admit to a huge wave of relief. Needless to say the remainder of Sunday opened up in front of me like a yawning, happy chasm.

Minutes later Miss 17 arrived in the kitchen, rubbing sleep from her eyes and pretending to yawn. She had been up for some time after checking her advent calendar for more cosmetics (and no, she doesn’t have the rip-off Zoella advent calendar). She cheerfully told us about the smallest lipstick in the known universe – quite the reverse of the night before. The re-building process is still happening, but today has been a much better day.

There’s an old saying about nature abhoring a vacuum, isn’t there. I filled my morning with a visit to the local pet store, to replace “Totoro” – the little russian hamster that passed away a few days ago (yes – in the middle of Miss 17 hitting rock bottom, her pet hamster died).

It has to be said – our local pet store rules – mostly due to perhaps the most dedicated, friendly, talkative staff member you could ever wish to meet. Not only did he show us the hamsters they had in stock, he also told us the life story of the hamster that lives in the store and is not for sale.

“She’s called Maddie – short for Mads Mikkelsen”.

“Oh, why’s that?”

“Well… we’re not really sure. There was a story that she ate one of her siblings. And Mads Mikkelsen played Hannibal Lecter of course. I thought about calling her Annabel Lecter, but thought that might be a bit too far over the line.”

Here’s the thing – he remembered selling Totoro to our eldest, over a year ago. He also remembered Totoro having a sibling, and both of their original names (they were taken to the pet store after fighting with each other – Hamsters are known for it apparently). I would love to have a memory that worked like that. I can remember passwords for server farms all over the country, but can’t remember the name of people I have just met.

While chatting in the pet store, a lady walked in and greeted us – apparently she knew my other half, and knew of our eldest daughter’s story over the last couple of years. She had apparently been down a similar route herself, and gave Miss 17 the biggest hug before handing her some money towards the new hamster. That’s when we also learned she had donated towards Totoro – her original hamster – too. It all got a bit emotional and tearful – enough for the mysterious visitor to make her excuses and leave before everybody started crying.

So – we have a new hamster in the house. A pale syrian hamster that Miss 17 is calling “Poppy”. Tonight she is settling into her new living quarters – the equivalent of a luxury apartment after the converted fish-tank in the pet store. I’m sure there will be more stories to tell over the coming days and weeks.