So, people have been telling me I should blog for quite a while. After much thinking and praying I have decided it is a great idea. I hope it touches people and allows them to know they are not alone in life, in parenting, in marriage, in every day life. So read and enjoy...
A few days ago our youngest son Warner decided he would like to get new pet mouse. He had one previous and didnt' take good care of April and her demise was quick. He learned and he is older, he saved his money and we decided this was a great idea. So, off to The Pet Store (it's real name!!) we went. Warner chose the cutest and smallest mouse in the bunch...after I showed him the little guy. (not tooting my horn, but rather feeling guilty).....he was about the size of a grape, beige with a white marking on his head. Tame as could be, would sit in our hand and as we rubbed behind his ears he would fall asleep in our hand. SOOOOO cute. Warner was tickled by his new pet, and I was pleased to see how much he had matured and how responsible he was being. Hank was wee and we had to put him in a different cage because he would slip our the rungs in the mouse cage we had. We all thought he was a great addition to the zoo here. Tuesday evening after school up Warner went to greet his whiskered friend...and I hear the belly cries of a 12 year old boy who has found his beloved rodent stiff as a board in the cage. Yes, it's how it goes, yes it's a mouse, and yes he will get over it, and in fact probably already has. But....
the sound of my baby crying over something he had worked so hard to get played in my head over and over again. It broke my heart, and made me sad for him. And it made me realize that I would go hand and hand in this life lesson with him. It may not be a big lesson, but I used it as one because I want my kids to be able to experience and learn from many things. In the middle of tears running down his face he looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said that Nan must have needed a pet up in heaven. :). I guess she did. ANd the other thing we talked about was even though Hank didn't live long, he has the best 3 days of his life. And I went on to say that its about how you make people/things feel every day and I asked him if he would have treated his new pet any different if he had know he would die on Tuesday and he said no, he felt good about how he treated the mouse...I hugged him and reminded myself that I need to treat people that way every day. It's important and it's what I am called to do. Really it's that simple.
We are getting a new mouse, and I will be constantly reminded by the new four legged squeeker of the life lesson his friend reminded me of. Funny how lessons come in the strangest forms sometimes.
