Thursday Thinking—Sometimes Parenting is for the Birds

thank you google images

Out under the flagpole on Sunday I saw the mother killdeer with her three baby birds—they’re more like teenage birds now. The mother bird started scratching in the dirt and the little ones followed suit. The four birds were busy scratching, scratching, scratching. The sprinkler made the dirt soft, but pretty soon it made them really wet, too. When that happened, the mother killdeer spread her wings out like an umbrella over the three younger birds while they continued to scratch. It was a perfect visual of good mothering—she expected them to be self-sufficient and independent even when it wasn't comfortable or convenient, and provided them a safe place while they practiced it.

Justin, Cache, Jesse, Hydyn, Maddie, Pal, Calder--this isn't posed, it's just life

Last Saturday Cali and Ray had a big layover in Dallas. They drove north to see my sister’s family in Oklahoma for several hours. I’ve told our kids several times that before they have a family they need to go to Aunt Rachel and Uncle Bert’s for a weeklong workshop on parenting. They’re that good at it. Like Grace and Abe who stayed with the Ellsworth's earlier this spring, Cali and Ray both said their stop was a trip highlight. Watching the family interact, seeing the forts the kids had lashed together, playing Apples-to-Apples (Ellsworth rules include selling your card to the judge; they said the debates were pretty darn funny since the Ellsworth’s don't lack for creativity)—I love every rerun Ray and Cali have told me.

our bossy, loud, and ineffective rooster

Our old hens have dug their way out of the pen. They’ve tunneled right under the wire and out to freedom. They love to scratch their way under the trees, through the pasture, up into the garden. It bugs the rooster they won’t stay where they’re supposed to. He won’t go out of the pen to round them up; instead he paces back and forth watching and crowing at them. Those hens ignore him and do whatever they want because what’s he going to do, crow louder? Though their actions madden him, he does nothing but squawk. He reminds me of a mom I saw at the grocery store that yelled while her kids ran wild. She threatened them with all kinds of dastardly things, but never followed through. It’s funny in the chicken world. It’s not so funny in the people world.

This week there have been lots of things that have made me think about parenting.  Sometimes it has made me smile, sometimes it has made my stomach hurt.