My Life as a Hamster

My relationship with Pen (or should I say Fine!) has been a bit strained lately. With her ever increasing pre-teen behavior and my sometimes un-necessary criticisms.... ugh.  I must say that some of my criticisms are definitely warranted ("Please go back and brush your teeth again with toothpaste!").  Often it isn't even a criticism that gets it started, but a polite request to do what she needs, but does not want, to do.  I am beginning to feel like a hamster on a wheel with the seemingly never-ending cycle we are a part of.  Fine! reacts with attitude to something I say or request (I never knew a nose could go up that far!), I react to her attitude, she reacts with more attitude....and so on.

I have recently come to realize how well a sense of humor can diffuse a tense situation. Since things have gotten rather hairy at times between the two of us this week (no hamster pun intended), I decided that Pen and I needed some afternoon fun. 

This was the result:

We had a lot of fun and laughed a ton.  Bud found the whole thing rather alarming and kept running away, but Big wanted to join in.  

Here is one of the pictures we took together:

I guess the humor must have worked.  Fine! went from telling me how annoying I was this morning to making me a bouquet of flowers in the afternoon to tell me how much she loves me.  I'm glad Pen re-emerged and I hope she's here to stay for awhile.