4 kids, no pets (yet)! Just GoPets.

I love dogs.

I grew up with two dogs. Cracker and Carmel. They were not only my best friends, they just happened to be the best dogs in the world. Loyal. Cuddly. Smart (well, we knew that Carmel was brilliant.  But Cracker was downright gifted!). And SO adorable.

But… there’s something about having 4 boys (all under 4) right now AND adding the care of a puppy that makes me say, “Not right now.”

I just don’t think I can handle it. Much (much, much) to the chagrin of my boys.

So… I did what any mom “could” do in my situation. I bought William and Alexander Webkinz puppies.

Then I heard about GoPets Vacation Island for William’s Nintendo DS Lite. The little man loves video games. And he wants a pet. So I thought, “Perfect!”

And perfect it is.  GoPets Vacation Island is an amazing virtual pet game. We were actually able to create our own pets and let them travel the world, make and visit friends, and make sure they eat, bathe, dress and sleep.

GoPets Vacation Island is literally the coolest world. When you first enter, you decorate island locations, set-up a home in a Bungalow and meet “Island” people.

There’s even a special picture language that GoPets communicate with – it’s called “iku.” William loves touching the pictures on the screen to read them, and get them translated to “our” language.

And then there’s the Adoption Center. Oh yes, where you can adopt pets.

We chose to use the Pet Matching Service where I helped William answer questions so that the game would match William with a pet personality close to his.

From the six personalities – Explorer, Victorian, Nature-Loving, Fashionista, Party-Loving and Quiet… William was given a pet with a personality just like his  – Explorer.  (I think my pet would be the Fashionista!)

And guess which pet William chose?

Well, a pretty easy choice for him… a DOG!

(Repeat: I think mine would be the Fashionista!)

William is a little too young to really grasp more of GoPets… but I think it is a great alternative to Webkinz. The very cool part is that there is a social networking piece to GoPets.

I wouldn’t want to GoNuts right now with a real dog… but for the time being,  GoPets and William are a nice fit.

And some day I will introduce our “real” dog to our little “Explorer” pet!

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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5 Comments

  1. 7.15.08

    Best kind of pet for a house full of kids! 😉 I have a real dog and it’s a lot of work and I only have two kids right now…one more on the way.

  2. 7.15.08

    I saw this game and was wondering what it was about. My oldest loves webkinz. Maybe I could introduce this game to my youngest soon. He is really want to play video games like this older brother.

  3. 7.15.08
    Lisa said:

    I will have to get that for my girls. They have more webkinz than I can count, and are obsessive, and I mean obsessive about pets (dogs in particular.) We thought the obsession would end when we got our shih-tzu 4 years ago. Nope, it’s only increased! To say they love our dog is an understatement. I do agree though, that in your case, a puppy would be a bit much for right now. But just think how much fun it will be when the boys are a little older!

  4. 7.16.08
    MomOf3 said:

    My 5 year old LOVES our DS. I may have to check this out! Thanks for the heads up!

  5. 7.16.08
    margaret said:

    I’ll have to check it out. All three girls love Webkinz, but only the 6 year old has a DS.

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