Dear Moms, Dads, Relatives, Educators and Business Owners!

My son is going through what I call his "Bart Simpson phase". He will ask me for the same thing at least 20 times in the space of half an hour. When I manage to stick to my guns and say no, he moves on to the next item on his list of must haves. His list is endless and he never runs out of steam. This method has proved to be quite effective as eventually I have to give in to something for the sake of my sanity. This time I gave in to his request to adopt a puppy and a kitten. I did say it was an effective method! Ever since his dog died two months ago he has wanted to adopt a puppy from the SPCA and my daughter has been nagging us for a kitten for two years now.

My husband and I would only permit the adoption of the animals during the school holidays so that our children would be home during the day to look after them. So, on Monday (being the first day of the school holidays) we could put them off no longer, and the whole family including aunt and cousins made a visit to the local SPCA.

We wondered around dodging the feisty swan and defending our ankles from the chickens and trying not to trip over pigs and sheep. We looked at all the dogs and cats in the cages begging us to adopt them all. There were some beautiful dogs and some gorgeous grey Siamese kittens bouncing around their cage all cute and playful.

So what did we come home with? My son chose a completely white Jack Russell puppy with a very long neck, a pointy nose, crooked legs and a small brown smudge on its eye. She reminded me of my daughter's rat. My daughter chose a small, bony mottled cat cowering in the corner. Well I am happy to say that my children do not take how the animals look into consideration when choosing their new best friend.

I noticed there were many other families visiting the SPCA. I never realised it was such a popular outing for families in the holidays. From babies and toddlers to teenagers, the animals were getting a lot of attention from the community that day.

We signed the papers and paid our adoptions fees and took our motley crew home. When we arrived at home I told the kids it was time to decide on some names. My daughter decided on Rosie for her cat and my son decided on Butterfly for his dog. My husband was unimpressed with the name and recommended he come up with something else. So my son decided on Flower as an alternative. Mmmm, Butterfly does not seem so bad anymore. He finally settled on Flutter. The afternoon was fraught with fun and games with the introduction of the newest family members to the existing dog and cat. I also noted there is a lot of house training and disciplining on the cards to ensure the new pets comply with the house rules. We are in for some interesting animal entertainment these holidays...

For those families not having to stay at home and make sure their German Shepherd does not eat their Jack Russell or kitten for dinner, there is a lot to do these holidays.  Please consult our events calendars below. We have also put together two product reviews, a list of products that will make day trips out with the family easier and some great ways to keep babies and children snug this winter. There are also some fabulous new book releases this month to encourage families to cuddle up together at night for story time.

Right, I am off to stop my nephew from eating all the puppy food and to check the kitten hasn't run away.

Cara
Editor