There comes a time in a relationship, after you’ve hit the 6 month mark, when you realise that you’re good together. You work well. You can see a future together. You fit. Being together makes you happy. It makes sense.
What also makes sense is moving to the next stage. For some it’s saying I love you, for others it’s moving in together, for some {the very eager} it’s an apt time to get engaged.
We moved in together. Not long after we figured that cohabiting worked well too, so we were ready for the next stage in a relationship. Some people buy pot plants others buy dogs or cats. We bought a bird.
I was {and always have been} afraid of birds. If a magpie flies nearby when I’m on my morning walk, I head for home with a light jog, waving my arms above my head so the magpie dare not swoop. Sadly, it’s a true story {and not a pretty sight}.
So that day I saw that cute little bird in the pet store {bypassing the dogs because I knew we couldn’t have one in our apartment} and called Hubby {then my boyfriend} to ask if we could have him, he was shocked to say the least.
But the next day we bought that cute little bird home, and we loved him. We called him Tyson and treated him like part of the family. He roamed the house, played soccer with a teeny tiny ball and wolf whistled whenever he saw us. Hubby even taught him how to say ‘Telle’ over and over again, cute at first, extremely irritating later.
One night we moved on from the pet stage and into the engagement stage and Hubby romantically slipped a ring on my finger. Something changed with Tyson. He got a case of the green-eyed monster and I was the subject of his hatred.
It only took one or two attacks from Tyson {aptly named as he liked to aggressively gnaw at my ear} and my fear of birds returned. I declared that I couldn’t be in the same room with a freed Tyson, not without gloves, a full body suit and a full-face mask.
He loved Hubby, but he hated me. He attacked anyone that wasn’t Hubby and screeched with anger for most of the day.
We married, and fell pregnant years later, and we knew that inevitably we couldn’t co-exist with a newborn baby and our bird Tyson. It was a sad, horrible decision we had to make, but we needed to find him a new home. And we did, with someone that loved him {and thankfully he didn’t attack}. It was one of the saddest days of my life, to see Hubby so sad to giveaway his beloved pet. I was slightly relieved that I’d never be attacked by a bird in my own home again, and the persistent “Telle, Telle, Telle, Telle” had finally stopped.
And if this blog were an animated Disney film, right now you’d hear Elton John singing ‘Circle of Life’ and me lifting up little T-Bone to the skies. My little sister, who recently reached that stage in her relationship where buying a pet was the next step, is going away and we’re minding her new puppy, T-Bone.
I’m ever so slightly freaking out because I don’t think little dogs and spiral staircases mix, but I guess I’ll find out. Wish us luck!
Did you ever get to that stage in your relationship where you yearned for a pet, or a pot plant? What did you do about it?
I am petrified of birds. Absolutely petrified. I could not co-exist…
I got my cat before I met my (now ex-)husband 🙂 So he's part of my package 🙂
That is such a lovely photo.
It is a very grown up thing, the co-ownership of a pet.
I ran away for a while, the week after we bought our dog home. I was terrified. Not of the dog. But of the committment he represented.
xx
i love love love cats, when me and hubbs were told we would need to do ivf we bought our cat called kartell and we loved him, he became part of our family very quickly…..
love the photo of you lisa xx
Lorikeets are so much fun! We bought one a few years into our relationship. He was very entertaining. He got so clever he opened his cage door when out on the verandah one sunny day not too long ago and flew into the trees with hundreds of other lorikeets that live in our area. He used to mimick our phone ring and say thank you when you gave him fresh water and food.
I love birds.
Not long after Ex-Hub and I got together, we went and bought a baby cockatiel. Her name was Stormy and I hand trained and she, like Tyson, had free run of the house and would happily sit on my shoulder, or peck at what I was eating.
She died 9 years later, only a month after my ex and I split up. Looking at pictures of her always makes me smile, she was such a funny little bird.
I'd love to get another bird, maybe a bigger parrot, but the short1 and a bitey bird wouldn't mix!
I'm terrified of Pee Wees (magpies' smaller cousin). Mr Posy used to laugh at me until one day one swooped him – ha!
We bought a dog… 5 years later, she died. So we bought another dog. 3 years on and we're now on the waiting list for a kitty (this could be interesting!). I think we're just putting off human babies 😉
My boyfriend bought me an aquarium and fish for a housewarming present when I moved in with friends, we moved in together a year later and we still have those fish … ok so maybe minus a few casualties 🙂
I always wanted a puppy, so at the age of 21 I got one!! I got my dog 10 years ago with my boyfriend at the time. The boyfriend is long gone, but the puppy has seen me through jobs, friends, relationships, an engagement and luckily accepted my now husband as a new member of the family.
I love that she's not only my gorgeous dog, but also she reflects the journey of my life over the last 10 years!
Good luck with T-Bone!! 🙂
What a cute story, was Tyson a lorikeet? They can be very territorial. I'm with you, the magpies freak me out. When I was pregnant the first time around, I used to park my car and walk down to North Sydney. Well meandering along one of the nice tree lined streets in the area I was attacked by a magpie. I felt so vulnerable, being heavily pregnant and all. Then imagine my horror, when it happened AGAIN! The following day. I used to detour around that spot after that. Gorgeous photo by the way of both you and Tyson :o)
Good luck with T-Bone! Great name!
my husband was lonely and single and bought his dog back then to keep him company… then he met me. i hate his dog. his dog is now our dog. has taken up room in MY backyard for 5 years. I hear the english springer spaniel's lifetime is 12 years. He turns 12 this year. I am a very mean person. The end! 😉
Cute bird! That was a sweet story about your bird. Except the part when he attacked you!
My Dad and Step-Mom have a bird. It talks too. It says things like 'Good Morning' and 'Give me a Kiss'. She doesn't attack. I don't think. She stays in the cage all the time. Although once she came downstairs on my step-mom's shoulder and flew to my shoulder. That was pretty cool.
hmm not pet ownership – mainly because he already had a dog and a cat oh and a mortgage when we met – but within a month of dating we were engaged and then i took, him, his dog, his cat AND his mortgage on – commitment much?
your fear of birds is well known in this house, Guv hates ANYTHING that has wings and flaps!
~x~
My hubbster and I married when I was just a little over 21 and he was 22…. We reached that “next stage” fairly early in our relationship, but we knew it was a little too early for baby. We got a dog, her name is Bree and she is a West Highland White Terrier…. about 1 year later we adopted our second dog, Duke (golden/lab)…. over the next 5 years, with a struggle for baby, we added to our family farm a tarantula, guinea pig (we call it a skinny pig.) who's name is Gertie, and a hamster named Oreo. (bet you can guess how she got her name.) Our farm has dwindled down considerably, those tiny little creatures just don't live very long, but I think we have realized that 2 dogs and a lizard are a sufficient amount of pets for the mean time. And we are fairly certain, that when we are finally blessed with baby, that we should be good in the ” 🙂
xo
Agree, the photo is nice.