Winter Bird Memory
I usually walk my 6 year old daughter E to school. Most of the time, especially before my 4 year old son C broke his foot, he would come along too. During one of these cold winter mornings in the past, we saw a frozen (and dead) baby bird on the sidewalk. They asked a lot of questions to try and understand what happened and that was that.
Fast forward to the spring now where there are tons of baby birds chirping. You can hear them everywhere. On a random morning, E asked me if I remembered the winter bird that we saw on the sidewalk. I told her I did and she was feeling sad about what happened to the bird. I explained that nature is both beautiful and harsh at the same time. Sometimes those things happen, but they are necessary to continue the cycle of nature. That’s the reality of the situation and we should also be grateful for what we have. E ended up processing this the rest of the walk to school.
Since C’s foot is feeling better, we were out more in the springtime to enjoy the weather. On that same day, C randomly asked about the winter bird also during the afternoon. He asked if I remembers the winter bird and I said I did. He was feeling sad about it and then walked ahead. E ended up hustling next to C so she could talk to him and make him feel better. She was explaining how nature is harsh and I could overhear their conversation - much of what I told her in the morning.
It’s funny how both of them had the same recollection of the winter bird on the same day. I’m glad that E and C process their emotions and try to understand what happened along with why. That’s the part that helps build knowledge (and sometimes acceptance) of the situation. Once those things happen, we can try our best to prevent those things from happening - either directly or indirectly. Both of them want to help take care of the Earth so they will try to consume less, throw trash away properly, and recycle so they can try and help all the insects and animals. Their empathy is guiding them in the right direction and it’s reassuring for a parent to see.
