Authored by Todd Cornwell Unique Birthday Party Parties for Kids & Reptile Rescue
Changing of a Moms Heart
About 5 years ago, I was hired by a school to come out to their mother/son dance with my reptile display. Weird I know. But none of the 5/6th grade boys wanted to come out and dance with their mothers (eeewwww). When the boys heard there would be snakes at the dance, they all came out. It was a smashing hit and I was able to teach them a lot about snakes. And now it is an annual event.
2 years later I got a call from another school, this mom is the PTA president and was having the same problem. And while she didn’t like snakes, they wanted to hire me for the same reason. Again, it was a hit, and one boy in particular spent all evening with me. This mom was a parent who went to the first mother/son dance. Which is how she knew to hire me. The next year she called, and said the girls after hearing the boys had snakes were mad and so they had to hire me for the daddy/daughter dance.
This year she introduced me to her son, the boy who spent the whole mother/son dance the year before holding snakes.
She told me he hadn’t stopped talking about it since. Again, he spent the whole evening with me. About a week after the dance, this mother emailed me to discuss responsible snake ownership. What was required, what was the best one for them, Etc.
This mom, who didn’t like snakes, adopted a ball python from me. They bought a tank, and I set it up for them. And she said her son has never been more focused on school work, never been so happy in his whole life. She told me, after seeing how snakes were, even around people, and how much her son enjoyed it, they couldn’t be that bad. And she’s right. Responsible pet ownership, whether it’s a dog, cat, bird, or snake, brings joy, companionship, and fun into any home. But to see fear change to acceptance, and after time to love is a wonderful thing to be a part of. Now this is how homework is done at their house.
Ball Pythons don’t like homework either.