Oh heck where on earth to start! In the 1970s there were comics called The Dandy and The Beano, which came with Dads' Sunday papers so long as I went to the shop to get them, and on the back pages were adverts for X-Ray specs, and Seamonkeys, life you could grow in a jar. And so, in my mid-fifties, with gogle sayin' I had less than five years and the docs saying not much at all, many memories of things that perplexed me in life came back into mind, to be dealt with. One I do hope to deal with, being as a ten year old I burnt down a maize crop by playing with matches, and would like to seek out and recompense the farmer. As that was in northern Kenya so it will be a fantastic journey to undertake, and I'm looking forward to it.
I have tried to raise my seamonkeys from the perspective of a 9 year old boy, with as few modern dynamics as possible, so giant empty sweetshop containers and sand and shells from the local Mersey Wirral seashore! Over a dozen at one point, all in my bedsit adorning the mantlepiece...
The seamonkeys are on the internet for less than a fiver, and when the package arrives from China will seem a little crushed. That makes it a genuine 1970s product that got stockpiled for the future! The 'seedlings' or eggs, have been curled up asleep for millions and millions of years, through at least one ice age, waiting to be in just the right warmth for them, which I must admit is a little warmer than us humans would feel comfortable with! Be aware the little baggie marked 'monkeys' may seem sparse, but actually has a hundred or so little guys in there, so only open it directly above the water (one level pudding spoon of seasalt per 500ml mineral water at 20c min. temp. or above a bit, but constant, as they are very very sensitive and fragile whilst growing).
With careful watching, they each develop their own characters as teenagers, which is around the time you look and they seem all gone 'somewhere', which is when they automatically fit their numbers to the space and food supply. You may have dozens upon dozens at first, but as they grow they 'size up' their surroundings, as only so many can occupy the same space. So don't be disappointed; be patient.
