Great Balls of Fur!

Yesterday, in my third class of the afternoon, I noticed one of my students was carrying her pencil case very strangely in the hall. She was holding it against her chest with two hands and once she was in the classroom some of the students were poking it gently and whispering. When I asked what they were doing the student smiled and said, "Teacher! It's nothing!" I thought maybe it was some sort of novelty pencil case with something soft on the outside or something. I didn't pay much attention. Until later when it became clear the students were not paying any attention to me at all and were completely focused on whatever was special about this pencil case.

So I went over and told her to open it. And to my surprise, inside were two itty-bitty hamsters! It was a soft, mesh pencil case so you couldn't see inside if it was closed but air could still get in. On the bottom she'd place bits of shredded newspaper and hamster food. The look on my student's face said, "Please don't be angry! Please don't make me get rid of them." It was an unnecessary plea since my heart had pretty much already melted into goo the minute she opened the case. Something about these teeny little balls of fur huddling together in a pencil case made me smile. I can just imagine being the 10 year old girl who got two new hamsters and couldn't bear to leave them at home alone and so devised, what I think was, a fairly genius plan to bring them to school with her.

And my school doesn't have any explicitly-stated rules about hamsters in the classroom. And they weren't hurting anyone. And they were so darn cute. So being the hard-line, slave-driving, rigid disciplinarian that I am...I let them stay and began cooing over them which my students got a huge kick out of.

When I jokingly asked her if I could have one she replied in all seriousness, "Teacher! This one is girl. This one is boy. Boy hamster and girl hamster....make some baby! Then I give you baby hamster! Ok?"

Ok.


And so the mystery of the strange pencil case was solved.
Or should I say...


Case closed.




C'mon that was funny!