One mama sheep decided to call it quits last week, but Rosie the Rabbit had eight bunnies yesterday to replace her - if you can call that a fair exchange. And for the record, some mama rabbits make a nest for their babies after they are born, as Rosie did.
But in the rabbit literature I perused, apparently it is much more common for mama rabbits to pull fur and gather up materials to make a nest before they have their babies. And the term "breeding like rabbits" appears to be true in this case of a litter of 9 (minus the one that had a life-altering injury). However this is Rosie's third litter, but the first to live or be found. And most interesting is the information I read on feeding baby bunnies: it's almost impossible to feed them and keep them alive without their mother because a rabbit's milk can't be copied. That reminds me that you have to take some huge leaps of faith to think even the common rabbit happened from an explosion of goo scads of years ago.
So there you have it: these tidbits of random rabbit information. You never know when you'll need to pull these useful facts out. (an important business associate or a class reunion or somebody you want to impress to name just a few)
Tuesday was a magnifying glass day. To keep me humble and help me realize what I need to work on.
But Tuesday came right after Monday, when I left all four children home in the capable hands of their father to help at a baby shower. I carried on several conversations without being interrupted by desperate pleas for snack or trips to the bathroom. I didn't have to take anybody away from the public to iron out bad behavior. I helped with someone else' baby and I helped serve lunch to the shower attendees. And I stayed until almost everyone had left to help clean up. I was feeling needed and helpful and not needy, like Old Mother Hubbard, who had so many children she didn't know what to do.
One older lady, on her way out the door, commended me about some aspect of parenting. At which time, I reminded her that she wasn't around a typical day at home. But she is very good at encouraging. Her children are grown up, I think, and time has minimized the frantic intensity of taking care of small children. She encourages younger moms and sews quilts for their babies, which is also a very needed skill.
But Tuesday, oh Tuesday, reminded me of how very far I have to go. It always seems to be worse when I've had a little break from the kids. Shouldn't it be the opposite? Shouldn't I be more refreshed and more patient? Anyway, Tuesday morning nobody could get their stuff together for swimming lessons. Every teeny tiny job I asked for help blew away with the wind. Ellie couldn't function without being held. So nothing got done, more disasters were made than were cleaned up.
But where the Monday night lady spurred me on. A lady at swimming lessons on Tuesday morning appalled me. Probably because I saw my own wretchedness in her. One of her kids forgot some part of clothing she was to change into after lessons. Right in the girls pool locker room, this woman reminded her poor skinny, pale, shivering 5 year old that she was "screwed". Yes, that word. Not once but twice in a room full of people.
I thought of that lady often during the rest of the day. Each time I shrieked like Cruella DeVille at some annoying behavior in Priya and Sam, I thought of her. What a giant hypocrite I am. Aghast at her harsh words at the pool, but really the only difference was the location. God still sees whether we're in public or in the yard.
At the ripe old age of 6, Priya progressed from two training wheels to one training wheel to no training wheels in two weeks, give or take a few days.
We won't count the weeks she claimed she'd never ride a bike and wished for a granny three-wheeled bike-trike thing.
Tonight she rode with me to the corner. Perhaps her reading skills will someday follow in similar suit.
One mama sheep decided to call it quits last week, but Rosie the Rabbit had eight bunnies yesterday to replace her - if you can call that a fair exchange. And for the record, some mama rabbits make a nest for their babies after they are born, as Rosie did. 
