Webkinz Anonymous

The following is a repost of a blog entry originally posted on my MySpace account on February 1, 2008.

I have recently become an addict. I'm not ashamed.,. but I am considering joining a help-group, if there is one. Does the name Webkinz mean anything to you!? I got my first Webkinz about a month ago. The charcoal cat. Just one cute little stuffed critter that has the same vaguely lost look in his eyes as my own lovable grey kitty, Gizmo. I entered the Sims-like world of Webkinz on the internet and thought, eh, I don't need this. But then I named my on-line cat Gizmo, after the real-life Gizmo, and I began to feel guilty that I didn't have a similar critter to name after Sophie. But wait! I discovered that they have a black cat! So I got a Sophie.
Again, I can live without it. I am an adult. But I would log on periodically to see if I had mail since my dealer, er.. friend Sarah is also involved in this world, and she promised to mail me something. While I was there, I started to shop for decorations for the cats' rooms. And of course they needed food! And I discovered the game room. At first, it was just a quick game of Cash Cow. Just one was all I needed. But then I discovered Cash Cow 2, and Goober's Lab!
I started logging on the minute I got home from work. I started spending more time with the on-line cats then I spent with the real live ones. I'm a bad pet-mom. The cats, the real ones, started acting up for my attention. They started hanging out with the wrong sort of people. Gizmo started drinking… the water from the fish tank, that is.
Fortunately I realized that my priorities were out of whack and started backing off. But then, I was in the store and a cow caught my eye. He was so cute. I immediately bought him and ran home to my computer. Upon entering his code, I discovered that the cow would be the Pet of the Month for February, so if I waited to enter his code, I could get fun Pet of the Month bonuses. So I told myself I could wait. I was able to wait, but in the meantime, I had to pacify the hunger with a frog. The froggy is so cute hopping around his lily-pad decorated bedroom. I named her Freida.
Finally the big day came. This morning, Feb 1st. I logged on and entered the cow code, I named him Moontgomery. He's adorable, don't get me wrong, but even as I was planning on how to decorate his room, my mind was turning to someone else. I couldn't even make it thru the day. Over lunch, I hit the corner store and bought a quick monkey. I don't know what to name him yet, but you know it'll have to be a cute name, I set the bar so high with Moontgomery!
As a payback, I took Sarah, the friend who got me hooked, with me to the store. Now she has a polar bear to go along with her penguin. I even got a small Yorkie dog for my friend Shawna. She hasn't logged on to enter the code, yet, but she's already dreaming crazy dreams of writing the Webkinz people and convincing them to come out with a Shitzu, cause she has a Yorkie and a Shitzu and she'd need one for each.
The sickness goes on. I manage to get thru some days with only a few minutes logged in, to spin the Wheel of WOW or dig for gems in the Curio Shop. But on other days, I'm weak, and I enter the Tournament Section and spend hours trying to win on Quizzy's Word Challenge.
I said I wasn't ashamed. Maybe I'm a little ashamed at my weakness. Anyway, if you know about a support group of people like me who are trying to get off the Webkinz, let me know. I obviously need help.