Honestly

Never take a budgie to the vet. Because if you do, chances are that you will pay $50 for the visit, plus $28 for the lab test, to find out that a bird which costs $20 at the pet store needs $15 worth of antibiotics. In our case, since we have two budgies, we spent $143, since one test and one dose of antibiotics suffice for both.

And the fun has only just begun. You may wonder how one gives antibiotics to a bird. Well, you suck it up into a syringe and shoot it down the bird's throat, while trying to avoid being bitten but still handle the bird gently so as not to hurt it. I don't know if this sounds straightforward or not, but it's not as easy as that sentence would make it seem. We have one budgie in particular who is amazing for her ability to struggle to free herself and scream bloody murder all while keeping her beak clamped tight shut. The poor thing now has sticky and slicked down feathers on the side of her face where the sugary antibiotics have missed her mouth. And when I do miss her mouth, I never really know whether I should try again with another dose or not, because maybe she's gotten enough down her throat that if I give her more it would be bad.

Which is not even to mention the merriment when the bird escapes. Budgies are little and flighty, so we have to chase them back and forth across the room, swatting at them vainly to get them to leave whatever high perch they've lighted on, trying to tire them out until they lose enough altitude for us to get our hands on them. In my case, this is generally accompanied by mounting frustration leading to anger, even though there's not really anyone to blame. Doesn't help me keep my temper, though.

Sheesh.

We are supposed to keep track of our remaining antibiotics, and bring the birds in for another checkup and lab test, and presumably go through this all over again in case the lab test shows a continuing high bacteria count. I love the budgies, and I know that misuse of antibiotics is bad for everybody, not just the birds involved, but does ANYBODY do that for their children, say, if the prescribed course of antibiotics has left the children feeling healthy again? Given that the budgies didn't have any actual symptoms to start with, just a high bacterial count in their droppings, I'm afraid we are all going to have to soldier on without the followup.

Life is tough sometimes.

Budgie Brouhaha

Ziad and Maya have budgies that live in Maya's room. These birds are not especially tame, or particularly bright, and when they get out of their cage it can be really difficult to get them back in again. Most birds, homebodies all, will eventually make their way back into their cage, but these are some freedom-loving budgies. Or some not-so-bright budgies, maybe, because even with two doors in the cage open I've seen them have trouble figuring out how to get back in. And of course since there are two, getting them both in and the door closed is twice as difficult. Honestly, they are the most trouble I have ever had with caged birds. When (not if, unfortunately) they get out.

Now Ziad and Maya like to handle these birds, and are trying to tame them, and love to interact with them. That is why I say when, and not if, they get out. That's all well and good, but seriously, chasing budgies into a cage when you are late for guitar class is one of the most infuriating wastes of time I can imagine. Especially since the guitar teach will definitely guilt-trip you for being late and then be unable to add extra minutes for the one you missed (it's not the fault of his next student that you came late), so that I can hear a little meter ticking off the dollars it is costing me to chase those annoying birds.

Which is why I made the decree that if those birds were EVER flying around loose again, they were out of here. There's a new place downtown that's opened up with the purpose of placing birds, and I have no qualms at all about taking those budgies and putting them up for adoption.

So of course, it turns out that they have been flying around loose again. The process by which I discovered this is not all that relevant, but when I did, and got ready to follow through, of course, there was a huge upheaval in the house. Ziad was crying his eyes out, and eventually revealed that he had set them loose ON PURPOSE because he felt like, in his words, "causing some trouble."

Naturally enough, this caused even more upheaval. I am not that keen on children who deliberately defy me. As I pointed out to Ziad, letting the budgies fly around loose is not really that good for them, they are not toys for his personal amusement, and it was that much worse that he decided to something that entailed serious consequences for Maya, just because he felt like it. So of course he cried even harder.

Not being made of stone (and being very fond of the budgies myself, I have to admit) we eventually settled on a compromise. Ziad is now personally responsible for all household chores for the next two weeks, he apologized to Maya, and he is going to be losing a substantial number of toys, although they are mainly birthday presents I've been holding back due to space considerations.

Now I'm wondering: which is the better course? Should I absolutely hold to what I said, or should I work with my children to let them find consequences that sting, but are bearable? Am I going to find myself with a drunken teenager who has no respect for the rules, and feels that everything is negotiable, or am I going to have a child who trusts me to care how he feels and wants to maintain our relationship of trust? I honestly don't know. Maybe nobody does.

Feedback welcome.