I think I mentioned in an earlier post about the girls that live next door. They are 9 and 11. The older girl is very much a thinker. The younger, well, the best analogy I can come up with is that she reminds me of Spongebob. Warning:if you are squeamish about dead rabbits, do not continue.
So anyway, On the way to the bus yesterday I spied a dead bunny in the road. Not sure of how traumatic this would be for the boy(totally not traumatic, but has ignited an interest in what we would do if there was a dead deer in the road), we took a wide berth around it. I saw the older girl stick her head out the front door, but before I had a chance to tell her to watch out, she went back inside. So we went on the bus stop. When I heard them coming, I walked out into the road a little, and I didn't see anything, including the rabbit. I stepped a little further into the road(there is a tree that obscures the view that I had to go around). Walking down the street were the 2 girls, the younger one carrying the rabbit by its feet. I instantly went into "mom" mode and yelled "Drop It!" She looked up, startled. "Drop the rabbit!" She lets go and the poor rabbit plummets to the ground and they both take off running to the bus stop. Her sister and I say at almost the same time--"Don't touch anything! Wash your hands when you get to school!"
Apparently this is not the first dead animal she has picked up and carried around. They both said that it looked like the rabbit was still breathing, but I think the wind was blowing its fur. The older girl said, "it's chest was moving up and down, but it had blood coming out of its mouth."
I tried to explain that if it was bleeding from its mouth, there wasn't anything we could do for it. I told them to ask their dad to bury it when they got home. I didn't think he would, he doesn't strike me as that kind of dad, but I figured it would make them feel better.
Fast forward to the next morning. I asked if their dad buried the rabbit, I had noticed it was gone. No, they said, he said he wouldn't do it. We did. They buried it under some flowers.
Gross.
2 comments:
Gross is right! (I read this in my gmail blog reader, but now I'm actually here so I'm commenting. *grin*) I'm so glad Pixie hasn't picked up the dead rabbits we've found near our homes. *shudder* I'd want to bleach the child.
And, yeah. I think the only answer is that we do not grow from avoiding the challenges offered, but through trying, failing, and learning from our mistakes. I heard someplace that the people who are the best at anything become the best through practice, and that most of them started out bad at what they chose to do. They simply stuck with it and learned new techniques until everyone noticed how well they were doing... thousands of hours practicing. IMO, it's not so bad for our kids to see us trying, failing, and trying again. It is a quality they will have to develop also. If at first you always succeed, then what's the use of trying again? Ooooh, now I have to copy this and post it on my blog, too. Consider this a preview. Thanks for the prayers!
when i was growing up we had a dead rabbit that was smashed by a car- completely flat on one side- i mean smashed flat like a bloody cardboard rabbit picture- and fluffy and normal on the other. the girl across the street drug it by its ears to her front porch. her dad promptly dashed her pride and stole her treasure when he flung it into the kudzu patch by their home. hours later we found her crying in the street by the kudzu, staring sadly at the rear end of the fluffy side of her dead friend. we thought she was mad that she couldn't have it, but when consoled she just yelled out that her dad had lied to her. "he said the bunny would go to heaven, and he's STILL there."
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