What Rosie has taught me this year...

I am going to preface this by saying I have never been a bird person. I was an animal person, but not a bird person. When I was a kid my mother got me a budgie and he was MEAN. He really hated us all, or at least it seemed that way. To me, birds just seemed like a huge mess with really no reward, unless you counted scars from bites.

When I had my daughter, she changed my view a bit. She has always loved macaws, they just fascinated her. She would go out of her way to see them and if possible, hold & interact with them. On her last day of school, we were invited to lunch a good distance from our house and passed a bird store. After lunch on a whim, we went in, Ashley met Rosie and that was it.... I had no idea of what I was getting into.

Rosie has been with us for a bit over a year now. I thought I would share some things I have learned this year and the way my life has changed:

• Don’t wear nice clothing at home unless I want it destroyed with big beak holes. I am constantly in sweats and tank tops that I got on clearance b/c clothing shelf life here is less than 2 months. I cannot tell you how many of my favorites are now gone. PLEASE, do not EVER come to my house unannounced. It will take me forever to get to the door since I have to run around like a loon looking for a shirt to throw over my tank before answering.
  
• Wearing jewelry is not a good idea around Rosie. I learned this when she removed my huggie diamond earring and I had to forceable remove it from her beak - which was not easy. If I forget and Rosie is angry at me for some reason, all bets are off. I lost my engagement ring from her squeezing it into my finger. My husband was actually afraid I was going to lose my finger from the pressure of the ring. All is good, but lesson learned.
  
• My ponytail is a great place to climb/hang/swing on. Should she not be in the mood to do so, she will swiftly remove the offending hair tie from my hair. No matter how many times I put it back in.
  
• Dogs like nuts and raw veggies. I never would have found this out if Rosie didn’t dump half her bowl onto the floor. I cannot tell you how many times I have stepped on sharp pistachio shells in the hall, the living room or my bedroom, thanks to the dogs. I have also had the fun experience of finding them in my sheets. Thanks Bailey and Teddy!
  
• My house, will NEVER be a show house. Fortunately, I have never been a great house wife and really have always had a kid friendly home. But since Rosie came, the mess is insane. Again, please don’t come to my house without notice or you will see what I mean, after waiting 5 minutes for me to get to the door. With stands in 4 rooms and a cage, there is usually food, destroyed toys parts & wood on a floor somewhere.
  
• My tolerance for noise has gone way up. Hugely loud, ear piercing screams whenever I am out of sight, or I yell, or just for the fun of it. There is no other choice. Although I am losing hearing from her screaming while sitting on my shoulders, so that could be it.
  
• Showering alone is no longer an option. Unless I want to hear screaming her thoughts about how unjust it is.
  
• In fact, I really can’t do anything alone since Rosie wants to be in the same room as me all day long.
  
• I love, love, love that crazy, red headed girl more than I could have imagined possible. Even when she is being so naughty I want to scream. For instance, casually strolling over to my side table and taking chunks out of it when I’m not looking. She does things to make me laugh regularly, and I mean really laugh. Her crazy antics always keep me entertained. Hearing “I love you” or “wanna cuddle” along with lots of kisses at the end of a long day is the sweetest thing. Which makes up for all the chaos and crazy antics in my book.

Thank you for sharing this! Hilarious lessons learnt (some obviously not so funny at the time! ) It is so lovely to be able to clearly see how much you care about Rosie! I wish you many more years of destructive happiness!

Thanks!!

This just gave me goosebumps, Kendra!!! Thank you so much for sharing. I think I'll appreciate my gang a whole lot more today.

Thanks Wendy! It sure is an adventure, but an awesome one!

Even more astounding than dogs eating nuts and veg - dogs after all being inveterate scavengers - since Alice has been with us, my cat hoovers up any leftovers, and has developed a particular taste for peas and sweet corn. I used to be able to eat dinner in peace, now every mealtime ends up with the bird trying to clamber up my shirt onto the plate whilst the cat prowls around my feet hoping for scraps. It's not quite what I imagined...

That is very funny! I once had a cat that loved pizza and plain corn on the cob. It was ridiculously funny to watch him bite the corn off the cob with his little front middle teeth!