I spent the holidays with a number of people, three of whom were under nine, and for Christmas, one of them received a Zhu Zhu Pet. I had never heard of such a thing, but I now know it is a little battery-operated hamster that rolls around on the floor and occasionally makes noises.

The particular Zhu Zhu Pet this little girl received was Mr. Squiggles, the brown one with the little spiral on his back, and she also received some accessories to go with him, including a Hamster Wheel and Tunnel (this is what the Zhu Zhu website calls it, at least). Somehow (and this part was sort of cool), the Zhu Zhu Pet was actually able to crawl up the tunnel by itself, jump into the wheel and start running. It did fall over onto its back a few times, but then managed to right itself (with a little help).

Zhu Zhu Pets were one of the most popular Christmas toys of the season (if you don’t believe me check here), and certainly, for this little girl, at least, Mr. Squiggles was one of the things she most wanted. But why? Personally, I find it baffling. Part of it, presumably, is simply that demand has outstripped supply, leaving parents doing things like lining up outside Wal-Mart to get their hands on one, which builds excitement. And part of it, surely, is a masterful marketing campaign—they have been advertised as “So fun without the mess!” which has obvious appeal to parents.

This idea—that these are “pets” that don’t shed, or eat, or stink, or even die, at least not permanently—starts to explain their popularity to me. A child asks for an actual hamster and her parents (they’re more popular with girls) give her instead an easier-to-deal-with battery-operated one (or a virtual one, by getting her a Webkinz, another popular present this season). And maybe I’m just behind the times, or maybe I just don’t understand how annoying it is to get your child a pet and end up having to care for it all by yourself, but isn’t something lost in this process?

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