"Up, up in the sky, where the little birds fly;
Down, down in the nest where the little birds rest;
With a wing on the left, and a wing on the right;
The dear little birdies sleep all the long night.
When the bright sun comes up, and the dew floats away;
'Good morning, dear sunshine', the little birds say.
How fair are the flowers; how green are the trees!
Our Heavenly Father made all of these things."
"Up, Up in the Sky" - an old Primary song
My mom used to sing this to us when we were young children. This is probably where I developed a tender spot for birds. As a child, I remember watching all of the birds in our neighborhood in Northern California, especially the Mourning Dove. I loved this bird so much that I chose this particular species for the bird report I was assigned in elementary school.
I have also carried guilt about killing my friend's parakeet when I was 11. The bird was in my care while my friend's family went on vacation. I tried to feed it and give it water but every time I did, the bird would peck at me. Being a scared and slightly stupid child, I didn't ask my mother for help. I found the bird dead on the bottom of the cage from starvation and dehydration. They still paid me for taking care of it. I think her mom was happy to be rid of it...or maybe that thought just makes me feel better.
Last month, we cut down the trees in our yard in an attempt to start afresh. We had a huge blue spruce pine tree against our house.
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| The final day for our blue spruce pine. |
When it came crashing down, so did a bird's nest. After the workers cut up the tree and removed the trunk and branches from the lawn, two baby birds were found. My daughter's sensitivity kicked in and she immediately pleaded with me to help her save the birds.
I thought of the yellow parakeet. Now's the time to redeem myself and help another bird live! No, I really thought of my daughter's desire to care for two of Heavenly Father's creatures. How could I not be sensitive to her sensitivity?!?
I looked up on the Internet how to care for baby birds. We made a nest for them in a plastic Easter basket. (The workers had already thrown out the nest.) We borrowed dog food from the neighbor and soaked it in water for an hour. Once it was soggy, we fed it to the birds with tweezers. We hung the basket in some tall bushes by our house. We hoped the mother would hear their cries and would come take care of them. I don't think that ended up happening, but they did survive the first day! She named the baby Eats-a-lot because he ate soooo much...every half hour. The older bird was named Sits-a-lot because he would always sit on the smaller bird. (All those episodes of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman gave her the idea for Native-American sounding names.)
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| The two birds were different ages. The older one is above the younger one. |
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| So happy to be helping these little birdies! |
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| The basket, hanging from the bushes near our porch. She was out there ALL the time. She will be an awesome mother! |
After the first night, we discovered the older bird gone from the basket. Thinking optimistically, we consoled our crying daughter with the thought that it was big enough and strong enough to fly away, thanks to a healthy portion of soggy dog food. I was a bit upset with the older bird. I don't see how it didn't like the bright pink basket-nest we created! We also hoped it would stick around to help care for the little one. But alas, it was gone so efforts turned to saving Eats-a-lot.
The week turned cold and my daughter put a washcloth in the basket to help keep it warm. It slowly stopped eating and then one day it was no more. I had never seen such a heart broken little girl. She cried and cried. I cried and cried for her sorrow. (I'm starting to cry right now just thinking about it). I told her she would see Eats-a-lot again and he would thank her for trying to save him.
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| This photo is of a LIVE Eats-a-lot! |
So, that is our baby bird adventure. The chance of the birds surviving was very minimal. However, I had to do all I could to help my daughter care for them. Hopefully, she will remember this experience and will feel love and care from her mother as I was sensitive to her sensitivity.
I think of the quote from Benjamin Franklin: "And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?"
I know the quote is talking about the founding of America, but I like to think of the empire as my little family. God saw that baby robin fall, and likewise, I know he is aiding me in the raising of my family.
Today's Stick-to-it Tip: Give care and show support of those tender emotions inside of your children, for their feelings are precious and fragile, just like those baby birds.
More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!
