My children used to have one webkinz each. That was enough for us. But last week as we entered one of our favorite stores, we were accosted by a huge Webkinz display that featured some of the cutest Webkinz ever - we could not resist. And so we entered the world of multiple Webkinz.

Each of my kids signed into their account and adopted their new Webkinz. This process effectively extended their memberships to Webkinz World to one year from the date of registration - ie July 2008. Great!

So now the kids sat down to play online with their new found pets. They assumed having two pets meant 2 gem hunts, 2 spins on the wheel of wow, 2 wishing wells, etc. Not so!!!!! The only benefit of the second pet is an extra room, welcome gift, and intial deposit of kinzcash.

This was quite a rude awakening. Even though you now have two pets to feed and care for, you still only get 1 of each of those priveleges. Hmmm. I was even surprised. Considering that I just paid full price for the second pet.

I couldn’t help but draw paralells to “real” life. For every extra child you have, you may get a few gifts to welcome the baby, but your current salary will now need to cover the expenses of the new family member.

Ultimately, the most cost effective strategy for Webkinz is to adopt your new pet at the time that your original pet’s contract expires. This translates to buying 1 Webkinz per year in order to renew your Webkinz World membership. But, in the meantime, you must resist the cuteness factor!