To end 2020 we are adding a sweet (that’s debatable) extended family member to our immediate family. An African Grey Parrot. She is around 25 years old, and was my Mom’s for about the last 15 years.

Her name is Kipper, and although she is an acquired taste we have been baby sitting her while my parents were out of town and fell in love with her over the last couple of weeks. In order to not break the hearts of my littles, my Mother was sweet enough to allow Kipper to live with us now. You see… my Mom lives about .3 miles from my house. That’s right- a whopping 3.5 mins to get here :). So she can see Kipper anytime she would like.

Now I do want to note that my relationship with Kipper over the last 15 years has been a socially distanced one, which is very 2020 appropriate. You see, when I was younger I was bit, which I probably deserved, by Kipper. I have always been scared of her deep down which I didn’t realize would never allow me to have a better relationship with her because well she’s like a dinosaur and can smell fear from a mile away. I have always liked to sing to her from across the room and talk to her. But it wasn’t until she was at our house and dependent on me to keep her safe, fed, and entertained did I actually realize how special this bird is.

Now, in the perfect Hagood fashion, the moment we realized Kipper was going to stay and we needed to come up with some more permanent arrangements for her- my Pinterest boards exploded with parrot ideas! New toys, new stands.. followed by the different health requirements, and all kinds of facts that you probably don’t need to know this early.

We have already started planning out the specific upgrades needed to keep her comfortable, and look forward to having her around playing and making the weirdest noises. But for now, we will continue to gain her trust one day at a time. So far 3 out of the 5 of us have held her. 3 out of 5 of us have been bit, and all of us have sang Old MacDonald Had a Farm more times than I care to count. I look forward to sharing our adventures of Kipper with you all.