Get your kid a pet ...

I really recommend you get your child a pet. Its such an amazing and educational experience for them to have one. We have two hamsters named Princess and Nibbles (and technically a dog but she prefers my Mom to us -- go figure). Since owning these sweet little rodents, my children have learned a lot of useful life lessons. For example, they have also learned about their olfactory sense when walking into a room with a cage that hasn't been cleaned in a two weeks. My kids have acquired colorful language skills while watching their mother attempt to remove the hamsters from the cage. They have learned household skills such as vacuuming up teeny little poop from the floor. And last, but not least, they have learned first aid skills when the sweet little hamsters decide to bite their mother when she attempts to remove them from their stinky cages to clean them.

One lesson we have yet to experience is the circle of life. However, if the hamster give mother a hard time again, she will feed them to a neighborhood cat. And then we will have that lesson completed.