Have a Merry Ferret Christmas

I am not a pet person. I mean, I love animals, I just don't like being responsible for more than I have to.

So we bought two cute little ferrets along with a cage and supplies. The first cage wasn't "right," so we had to get another one. We started "potty-training," which apparently means if we see a ferret "about to go," we stick them in the litter box and hope they do their business before climbing out.

Buying pets is just the beginning. You are responsible for their very lives. You have to feed them, clean them, care for them and love them. And not just for a week or a month, but for their lifetime.

Christmas is obviously about more than getting ferrets or putting up the Christmas tree, or filling the front yard with holiday decorations. Of course, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. But just as buying ferrets was just a beginning, the birth of Christ was just the start of the gift of Christmas.

The journey that began that first Christmas morn was destined to end on a cross at Calvary. The baby lying in a manger would die on that cross for the sins of the world. The responsibility that was born with Jesus that day in Bethlehem was greater than I will face in my life.

For Christians, the story doesn't end there. But I am not a preacher. I'm just a guy with a loving and forgiving family, a bit of a temper, two ferrets and a clean living room for my Christmas tree. So here's wishing you and yours a Merry Ferret Christmas.

My Christmas column for this year, from the Potomac News.

We bought ferrets this year, and I decided to play off the scon "Have yourself a merry little christmas, with the title "Have yourself a Merry Ferret Christmas".

But they changed my title to "have a merry ferret christmas.

Which reminds me of another song, "Have a holly jolly Christmas".

In the article, I also explain why we decided to buy ferrets:

"But I had gerbils growing up, so when my children wanted a pet, we got gerbils. Gerbils are short-lived creatures and our last gerbil died in October. That's when we were reminded of the Ferret Memorandum, an 11-page document explaining why we should allow our daughter to have a Ferret. According to the paper, "ferrets make wonderful pets because of their engaging personalities, playful activity and fastidious nature." Ferrets can be litter trained, sleep 16-20 hours a day and love human interaction. She wrote "you're probably thinking 'why a ferret?' Well, why NOT a ferret?"
When we first received the Ferret Memorandum last year we read it and filed it away, much to the chagrin of our daughter. I thought the same would be true this time. But after some clever salesmanship, which included trips to the store to hold the ferrets, both my wife and I inexplicably approved the ferret invasion.
Some people buy pets for Christmas, even though you can't hide them and they are impossible to wrap. I expected we'd take our time before buying the ferrets -- the longer the better. But my daughter had picked two ferrets already and feared they'd be bought in the Christmas rush.
So we bought two cute little ferrets along with a cage and supplies. The first cage wasn't "right," so we had to get another one. We started "potty-training," which apparently means if we see a ferret "about to go," we stick them in the litter box and hope they do their business before climbing out.

I also included a little "family meeting fiasco", which turned out OK because the kids ended up cleaning the house because they were afraid I'd have a nervous breakdown otherwise. :-)

Have a Merry Christmas.

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