Our New Pets

As I was driving the kids back home from school today, one of these weird dialogues you can only have with kids ensued.

“You know, Mom, one of the kids brought a very special pet to school today. I have never seen anything like it before”.

“What was it?”

“A silicone.”

“A what???”

“You know, Mom, a Silicone. He had several of them, and they were so cute. I want one too, and I Think it’s the kind of pet we can have.”

My investigations didn’t help me much with identifying the mysterious species. Apparently, it was soft, pettable, shaped as a ball, and came in a variety of colors. You had to keep it hydrated and take good care of it so it wouldn’t die. It breeds very fast too. One of the kids got one, and within a day it multiplied into twenty new silicones. There were different species too, each in a different color and with its own distinct characteristics, and most importantly, these animals grow very quickly, from babies to fully grown adults in a day.

I insisted there was no such animal as a “silicone”, but the kids just gave me one of those “oh, you old people know so little about the modern world” look, so I gave up.

Eventually, I couldn’t handle the suspense. Being an animal lover, I got too curious. Tge pretty convincing too – I was looking forward to seeing these super cute little fellows. So I called the Mom of the boy in question.

She comforted me, saying up until yesterday, she was totally unaware of the existence of this new species of animals. We’re not sure who started it, but the kids at school fell in love with little silicone gel capsules, or beads, used as a bedding for flowers, candles etc.

You buy them as tiny beads, put them into water, and indeed within hours, they turn into fully developed colorful silicone gel beads. How would anyone think of them as an animal, is beyond me, but obviously a boy with very active imagination is carrying the entire school into a few fad.

So, we have four plastic containers here, with lots of “silicone babies” developing. What can I say, a perfect little new pet. They’re quiet, very clean, don’t need feeding and only cost 50 cents a bag!

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