Call Me Crazy!

Six months ago my daughter came home with a sign on her shirt which said, "I want a rat." Do you remember that event?
Some of you thought I was crazy for getting her said pet. But I did it anyway, and I was glad to delight her heart so much.

Then the little critters started growing on me. I got over the fact that they're rats (Elizabeth always comes to their defense. "They aren't sewer rats. They're domesticated!") I held them and admitted that I think they're kinda cute.
And some of you continued to think I'm crazy.

Well, I've gone and done it again!
Elizabeth decided she wanted to have a party for her rats to celebrate their birthday. We really have no idea the actual date of their birth, but choosing to have a party for them on the last day of school seemed good to Elizabeth, so she declared June 11 as their birthday.
She went to the pet store and bought them a present and she visited her favorite "rat website" to find out what she could give them for a birthday treat. Elizabeth then asked me if I would buy a low-fat muffin she could give the rats as their "birthday cake."
I thought about it for about ten seconds awhile and told her I didn't think the grocery store sold individual muffins - and if they did, I doubted they would be low-fat. But I said I would make muffins for her. So my industrious young lady got online and found a recipe for low-fat muffins which had no dairy in them. (Dairy is a no-no for rats.) And last night I baked "birthday cake" for the rats.
(Of course, the rats only got one of them. The rest are for dinner. When Brian heard what I was doing he said, "You're going to feed us rat food???" "No, Silly! The rats are eating people food!")

So, with all the preparations made - today, we partied!
Joshua's friend also has pet rats and they were invited over for a "play date." Seriously, that's what Elizabeth called it - a rat play date.
They all shared one muffin. There were really four rats, but they wouldn't all get around the muffin at the same time.
Then it was time to open presents. This part was particularly funny to me. Somehow the kids thought the rats would understand what was going on and would "know how" to open their present. They tried to entice them by putting the cake on top, but that didn't work, either.
In the end, the kids wound up opening the toy for the rats - which is how birthdays usually work around here anyway. You know - excited kids, opening each other's presents. The rats went back to playing and enjoying "cake."

So, there you have it. Today I was a willing participant in a birthday party for rats. Call me crazy if you must, but we had a good time. *grin*