There was a pet rat at the girls kindergarten in Wellington that caused me much anxiety! I hate rats. It’s name was Anakin Skywalker and it use to be allowed to leave the cage and “play”with the children, for example they use to put it in the pram and push it around. I did not cope with this and every morning before dropping the girls off I would make them promise not to touch the rat or go near it. Every morning they would answer me, “Yes Mummy. I promise not to touch the rat Mummy”. Every afternoon I would ask them, “Darling did you touch the rat?” and they would always say, “No Mummy. I promise Mummy.”
THEN when they graduated from kindy and we got their kindy portfolios every second photo was of the girls playing with the blimmen rat! I became a much more suspicious mother after that! Good training for the teenage years!
