Broken

About a week ago, my girls were up at the school playing, when they saw this bird that looked to be injured. They were concerned, so they went a little closer, the bird hopped away, with it's wing looking hurt until finally it flew off. That's when they discovered a little nest made out of rocks that had three eggs in it. They were smart and left the nest alone. But they were excited about the possibility of watching them from a distance. They described what the bird look liked, so we did a google search. As soon as they saw a picture of a killdeer they were certain it was it.

Nearly every day they have gone up to see how things are going, but they have got increasingly worried as they haven't seen the moma bird since the first discovery. Yesterday they wanted to bring the eggs home so that they could take care of them. I told them that wouldn't work, for one you just can't take the eggs on the assumption that the moma bird is gone. Secondly we have no way of incubating the eggs and even if we did how would we ever take care of baby birds? I sent them with my camera so they could take a picture of the nest so they would have it as a memory, and assured them that this was nature and nature would take it's course.

They got a little closer than I would have suggested. They took a friend with them yesterday. It was the first time they had shared their special secret, a decision that would prove tragic. When they went to take pictures they had seen some bigger birds lurking in the area. They were concerned that the big birds would get the eggs. Once again I assured them that this was nature and sometimes nature doesn't seem fair. This morning they came home devastated and in tears. The eggs were gone. The big birds must have got them. Oh my poor sweet hearted children. I tried my best to comfort them. To once again talk about the circle of life, the ways of nature. That sometimes that's the way things go. It wasn't much, but that's all I could offer.

Their friend came over again today. They went on a bike ride. When they came back, my girls were very somber. I asked what was the matter. "The big birds didn't get the eggs." They began to cry. "Bradley squished them. I don't know how he found the nest. They didn't die right away, but they didn't make it." This is when their friend speaks up. "I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen." she says. And that's when I knew that my poor girls had been betrayed by their friend. She probably didn't mean to, she probably said something like "hey, you want to see something cool?" and then showed off the nest. And well, we now know what happened next. While out on the bike ride, their friend showed my girls what was left of the eggs and told them what had happened. Now I have nothing to console them with. This wasn't just nature taking it's course. This was cruel and heartless and selfish. This is mean and wrong and heartbreaking. It's the sort of thing that shouldn't happen, but sometimes kids think they need to be mean to be cool. Whether that's picking on other kids, or picking on creatures that can't protect themselves, it's all the same. I told my girls, that sometimes special secrets are meant to be kept just between sisters and not shared with those that you can't trust 100%, and this particular friend of theirs, unfortunately, has proven in the past to be one that isn't 100% trustworthy. What a crappy lesson to have to learn.