Friday 7 November 2008

A rose by any other name

Have my darling children and I not suffered enough? Have we not been buffeted sufficiently by the move from Abroad and the reign of terror of the Puma of Peckham? And all that's without even mentioning True Love and his antics. Huh! Well, you might feel we've been through traumas aplenty. I certainly do. But someone Up There clearly feels there are hedges we have yet to be pulled through backwards. Let me tell you all about it.

My treasures and I popped to the vet to get poor Mme Bovary a flu jab, and we decided to take young Jiffy along for the ride, to have a little manicure. Her toenails have been inflicting three-inch scars on poor Child Two for long enough.

All went well, in that we spent a happy couple of hours chasing the cat and rabbit around the house - I do feel that children should get plenty of exercise during half term, don't you? - and we finally slammed them into a couple of bullet-proof pet-carriers for the five minute walk to the vets, which we decided to accomplish in the car, as we were all feeling unaccountably weary by this point. After the statutory wait at the vets, with the poor cat whimpering as her cage was sniffed unnecessarily thoroughly by several sick Dobermen and a sad-eyed spaniel, we were in, the cat was swiftly injected and the rabbit was lifted out for inspection.

Had we thought of getting her neutered, the vet asked me. Sensing that the wrong answer would set me back at least £50, I prevaricated. 'She doesn't have any rabbit ....friends,' I said, hoping the children would not get wind of a discussion of S-E-X, which brings out sniggers in one and blushes in the other. 'Ah well, 80 per cent of female rabbits get ovarian cancer, you know .....which won't be a problem in your case,' said the vet, as she rummaged around in little Jiffy's furry knicker area, and suddenly unearthed a vivid pink object. My goodness, I thought to myself. Either that rabbit has a stunningly large clitoris, or ......'yes, she's a boy!' said the vet, with the air of a magician pulling, well, a bunny from a hat. The children looked on in stunned silence, as I said, 'Are you sure?' 'You can look at it again if you like, but I assure you he has all the equipment ....' said the vet.

I clamped a hand over Child Two's eyes, backed away from the table, and confirmed that we would not be requiring another glimpse of the rabbit's shiny new appendage. Poor Child One looked as though she was going to burst into tears. My first - or second - thought was of the lovely B, who had asked for Jiffy's hand in marriage to her own adorable bunny Dill. 'That means the wedding is off!' I said to the vet, horror-struck. 'Nonsense, you can always have a nice civil ceremony these days,' was her enlightened advice. But somehow, I don't think that would wash with B.

Child One was very silent all the way home. She didn't even perk up during the renaming process, where we wrote out several boy name options on bits of paper, and waited for the rabbit to hop to the moniker of his choice. Somehow, it seemed strangely fitting that he chose the name Jumbo.

'I feel as though I've never really known him at all,' said Child One mournfully that evening, as she fed Jumbo a bit of carrot.

Ah, but how well do we really ever know anyone - even our nearest and dearest? There are always surprises in store, it seems.

10 comments:

Lindsay said...

Hope Jumbo had, so far, kept his trunk to himself?

Anonymous said...

Now I've had to re-clean my computer screen - it doesn't like coffee being sprayed all over it.

You write so well, I'm very glad I found your blog.

ADDY said...

This post was so funny-
The tale of your bunny.
What you thought was a SHE
Is quite clearly a HE.

ADDY said...

Sorry. I don't know what happened there. The verse just shot out as I wrote "funny". Corny, I know.

Footballers Knees said...

Fantastic. Love the bit about Child One feeling that she never really knew the rabbit. These days few things make me laugh (like to think I'm just more selective about my choice of humour, rather than just getting old), but your blog is definitely one of them. Thanks for sharing!

Millennium Housewife said...

LOL! Poor children! MH

Millennium Housewife said...

ps, great minds and all that - same post title- Snap! MH

The Accidental Author said...

Oh dear, poor you! I hope the offspring weren't too offended by the unnecessary (if you ask me) view of the rabbit's not so dangly bits. VLiF

Anonymous said...

Just popping back to say that I've added you to my blog roll - on my new site, so am signing in for the first time with my new identity - well, got to get thrills where I can.

DD's Diary said...

Hi dear Lindsay, yes, luckily, poor Jumbo has not had a chance to try out his new toys .....Scatterbrain, why thank you my dear, sorry about the screen, Cillit Bang works wonders (and on so much else too, I do love it so). Dear Rosiero, you're a poet and now we all know it! I shall consider myself a muse from now on. FK, what a lovely name, and thanks for your kind comments and for coming by, I shall drop in chez toi if I may ....Dear MH, great minds, as you say! I will drop round and read yours forthwith ....My dear VILF, I do agree, I think the vet was brandishing the goods around quite unnecessarily, most disturbing, Dear Splodge, love your new house! Gorgeous. Makes me feel I should dust, if not totally redecorate. Will be putting you on my roll of honour