Her big blue eyes started it, begging me to give her this chance while making grand promises. I didn’t want to give in, but children have a way of manipulating their parents, and my daughter Natalie had done just that.
“I promise I will clean their cages every day and buy all their supplies. You won’t have to spend a dime.”
“I don’t know. They stink. I just don’t want that kind of smell in my home.”
“Haven’t you always taught us that we can get anything we want if we work hard and save the money for it?”
“Within reason.”
“Well, they won’t stink. These ones are de-scented.”
I wanted Natalie to take on the responsibility she was bargaining for, but I didn’t want stinky ferrets in my home. I tried to push out the idea, but as she constantly nagged, it seemed important to her. Owning ferrets would give Natalie little furry companions and a chance to learn responsibility. Plus, if she bought the ferrets, she would shut up.
I gave in.
Her ferrets came with an overabundance of cuteness and a horrific smell. As their odor permeated every corner of my home, I wondered how awful the scented ones smelt.
Natalie kept true to her promises of daily cage cleaning, as most kids do, which she didn’t. I hated walking in the front door and having the heightened smell of ferrets and unclean cages assault me. I had reached my wit’s end with them when I walked past Natalie’s room one day.
There Natalie sat in the middle of their play ring, providing care to them that only a mom knows how to give. I could feel her profound love radiate to those little creatures as she attended to and loved them. Natalie might not have been the best cage cleaner, but she was learning how to care for another life form. Her love radiated from where she sat and hit me with a power I can still recall today.
After that day, I tried to come to terms with the horrific smell in my home. The love Natalie gave to her ferrets was the greatest glimpse into her beautiful soul.
As time progressed, Natalie became increasingly busy with high school, JROTC, homework, and a job. The mom’s guilt weighed Natalie down as she couldn’t give her ferrets the attention she wanted them to have. One day, she made the hardest sacrifice a mom would have to make.
“I think I am going to find the ferrets a better home.”
“What! Why?” Secretly I was ecstatic. I was going to have a decent-smelling house again.
“Because they deserve more love and attention than I am giving. I feel so bad that I can’t give them more time.”
Natalie loved her ferrets more than anything. I saw her soul rip apart and felt her pain as she put her ferret’s needs before hers. I know that decision destroyed her, but she had done the most significant thing a parent could do. She put her babies’ needs above her own.
I have never missed those ferrets, but I miss what they meant for Natalie. I saw beautiful growth in her as she cared for them. I felt her pain as she put them first. I am glad I gave into Natalie’s brilliant blue eyes, which allowed her an opportunity to grow in the purest of ways.
