Both my snakes and my mouse colony give me a lot of joy. Although there are times when I wish I could take some time off from feeding, cleaning, etc., overall, I love every part of having them. Sometimes when life is stressful, I find it incredibly soothing to take out a snake and hold it for a while. I have purposely scheduled mouse feeding time as the last thing I do before going to bed, because the routine is relaxing and seeing all the new lives that have been created in my care ends my day on a positive note.

It has also been something that has brought my family together a little bit. It isn't like there was any great rift and now suddenly we are close, but it is really neat to have a hobby that we all enjoy.

I hope that someday I'll be able to make a small profit off of breeding them (either the snakes, or the rodents, or the combination), which would be really nice to be able to contribute to the family financially while still being a stay-at-home homeschooling mom.

A totally unexpected result is that all the negative press and proposed legislation has been a good way to teach some important lessons to our daughters. Don't believe everything you read (all the lies and misinformation in the press), don't take things at face value (HSUS isn't what they'd like you to think), how the government works, etc.