Pompom wasn’t just a hamster in our home.
He was my daughter’s best friend.
From the moment he arrived, she claimed him completely learning his routines, watching for the smallest changes, and speaking to him in a voice reserved only for those we love deeply. He was part of her world in a way that only children and animals seem to understand instinctively.
When Pompom died, it wasn’t just a pet we lost. It was a constant.
The Bond Only They Shared
Every day, she checked on him first. Before school. Before bed. Before anything else mattered. She knew when he was awake, when he wanted space, and when he was ready to sit quietly in her hands and snuggle up to sleep inside her dressing gown with her.
To her, he wasn’t small. He wasn’t temporary. He was hers.
Watching her grieve was heartbreaking in the quietest way no dramatics, just tears that came unexpectedly, questions asked softly, and long moments of silence beside an empty enclosure.
Helping a Child Through Loss
As a parent, you want to fix everything. To make it stop hurting. But this wasn’t something that could be fixed only felt.
We talked about how short some animal lives are, and how that doesn’t make the love smaller. We talked about how being someone’s whole world, even briefly, is a beautiful thing. And we talked about how it’s okay to miss him even weeks later.
She still does.
Why Animals Matter So Much to Children
Animals teach children something no lesson plan ever could. They teach care without expectation. Love without judgement. Presence without words.
Pompom gave my daughter comfort, routine, and companionship. He gave her responsibility and in losing him, he gave her her the experience of grief.
That is not nothing. That is life.
Our Home Is Changed
There’s a space now that feels wrong. A corner that is too quiet. And a child who learned, far earlier than we’d like, that love sometimes ends in goodbye.
But I also see something else, tenderness, empathy, and a deep respect for animals that will stay with her forever.
Pompom changed her. And because of that, he changed all of us.
For Pompom
You were loved completely.
You were never “just a hamster.”
You were a best friend.
Thank you for choosing our family, and for loving my daughter so gently. 🤍