Being a mother is a difficult, yet rewarding experience that I would not give up for the world. One of my favorite activities that I always find time for in my busy schedule is playing with my fur babies.
In the picture above are my adorable bunnies, Gizmo (left) and Thumper. Thumper and I locked eyes from across the pet store in the Westfield Mall last December and I was instantly in love. I had never had a pet that was entirely my responsibility to care for before I took that little white fluff-ball home almost a year ago. He has so much energy and everything he does makes me laugh, but after a few months I began to wonder if he was lonely in his cage when I was not home, (I'm sure you can guess where this story is leading). When a family friend informed me that she was giving away her year old rabbit I couldn't volunteer to adopt him fast enough, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Gizmo is fully grown weighing a little over 2 lbs, and he is the sweetest thing you could imagine. Even though he is older, I still see him as a baby compared to Thumper who may grow to weigh as much as 10 lbs.
Having these boys in my life has forced me to become more mature. I took both of them in out of impulse and did not quite think through the responsibility that comes with being the sole provider for two living creatures. Twice a day they each need to be fed a vegetable, pellets, and hay to give them a healthy, well-rounded diet. Also, they need to be let out of their cages often to stretch their legs and participate in some exercise, and their cages need to be kept clean. Their fur needs to be groomed fairly often as well. These are things that have to be done, but I do not find it hard to make time for them. Seeing their eight tiny legs hop around on the floor can make me happy no matter what I am going through. You have to have a heart made of stone for it not to melt when they happily jump around or lick your nose. Seeing how care-free and sweet they are makes you forget your own worries for a while; if I were to write a book on how to alleviate stress, the first tip would be play with an adorable animal for an hour.
Caring for them is not easy, but finding time to give them what they need is because you know that they love you and trust you to be there for them. I believe that being a provider for another life, whether it is your biological child, an animal, or a sibling, can help you improve yourself in other aspects of life as well. In my own personal life, this experience will prepare me for many future situations. I plan on being a special education teacher someday, and I will have to be responsible for the well-being of my students. When their parents bring them to school, they expect that their children will be treated well and given everything they need to flourish. I am already learning how to change my thinking and put others needs before my own desires. If I want to go away for the weekend, I need to make sure someone will be available to feed my rabbits or I'll have to stay home. I imagine the same sort of situations will occur when I am a teacher and a real mother.
Like I said initially, being a rabbit mother is difficult, so I can only imagine that being the mom of my own human child will be much harder. However, I have a good feeling that the experiences I'm gaining by nurturing these creatures will help make the transition into taking care of real kids, (whether they are my own or my students), a little bit easier.
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