Duck and Cover or Smile and Wave?

Sometimes I cringe or cry because one of my lovely daughters has to face something ugly, difficult, harsh, or cruel in the world.  I want to protect them and comfort them and keep them safe and happy all the time.  I want to hide them behind me and shield them from the challenges of an unfair world that might not realize - My Girls Are Special!  And, as such special girls, they shouldn't be faced with the possibility of pain.

These times are even more daunting when I see that I had a missed opportunity to head off the storm.  When I can see that my patience or blindness or trust allowed a circumstance to grow or fester, I wear the blame with a heavy, heavy heart.

I know that I can't protect them from every situation.  I know that learning about the world and growing up both come with consequences and lessons learned and that they will be better, stronger, more accomplished adults because of the challenges they conquer.

And then... today, Rachel proved again how amazing and brave and special she is.  When my she stepped boldly into that harsh light and faced her challenges head on with firm steps and one eye on the bright horizon; then I knew that the universe had ticked us into receiving a gift when we thought we were looking at a flaming bag of shit.

My first response to so many things is to duck and cover.  Rachel so readily stands at the threshold with a smile and a wave.  I'm so proud of her!

Observations of Jesus

Since we're Jewish, my daughters haven't seen a lot of pictures of Jesus. We don't have him in our books or when we go pray. They certainly see him from time to time, but might not always realize who they are seeing.

When Rachel was about three we were in Calvary Lutheran Church in Omaha for Chuck's sister's wedding. My mom was there - to attend and enjoy and also to help with Rachel while we all got ready for the wedding.

Mom took Rachel to walk around the Church and they came to stand in front of a giant stained glass window. If I remember right, it stands about 10 feet high and has an image of Jesus, bigger than life, in a pasture with sheep. Rachel stood there with my mom looking at the window and then said, "He's going to get into trouble for being outside without any shoes on." Yes, indeed, pasture Jesus was standing in the field in his bare feet.

Today my parents took Kate (who is four) to the Art Institute of Chicago. They had a great time and saw many, many pieces of art. When they stopped to look at a miniature display replica of a church Kate saw the crucifix and said, "That guy doesn't look too happy to be hanging up there."

Cleaning the Cages and Mysterious Predication

Today I cleaned the hamster cages for the first time. The pamphlet said once every one - two weeks. So, today is one week. I'm guessing that it will more often reach to two weeks. We all know that cleaning is not my passion. But, I do like when the house doesn't smell like pee.

A few interesting things happened during the cleaning process.

The first thing I did was catch the hamsters and put each in his exercise ball to run around the house. Jane was immediately interested in the hamsters being on the ground and where she could get her nose right in close. (Jane's our dog.) I was worried she would scare the hamsters and told Rachel to take Jane in another room. But, Rachel suggested putting the balls in the bathtub and letting the hamsters run in the safety of the tub. Fine. Then she came out and told me that the balls got stuck on the drain so she put the plug in. Fine. Then she called for me to hurry and come in there because Snickers was out of his ball.

I ran in to find Snickers running around the tub ball-less. I scooped him back in the ball and made sure the lid was on tight. I then stood there thinking that it sure was a lucky thing that Rachel wanted to put the balls in the tub and wanted to put the plug in the drain. Snickers is fast and not doing either probably would have meant a lost Snickers. Rachel's good at predicting the future without knowing it. She often does things that anticipate circumstances we couldn't have foreseen; and it works out really well. I like that she has that unique talent.

The second interesting thing that happened while I was cleaning the cages is that I realized Snickers' cage had been put together wrong. Part of it wasn't connected this whole time. No rodents got out. No cats got in. Funny. Everyone just stayed where they belonged.

So, I don't know if Walter and Snickers could see each other in their exercise balls, but when I put them back in the cages, I put them both in one. And they were so happy to be together. They were grooming each other and sort of hugging. They pressed their faces together. It was very, very cute.

When we picked them out, they were in a cage together, so I guess they must be brothers or they must have been together for a while. I'm glad that they are happy to see each other. Maybe they can share an exercise ball next cleaning.