Birthday / Death Day... AKA "Zing! Went the Strings of my Heart"

Today was my littlest kid's fifth birthday. Wow. When I started staying home with him, he wasn't even two. Now, spin around a couple of times and he's five. It's pretty freaky.

That part was easy.

The part of the day that wasn't as easy was the part I didn't expect.

When I picked up my 9-year-olds after school today, my son was carrying a little plastic tray, with something in it.

I ask what's in the tray. He replies, in a raised voice, "My less than one day pet!!" For a second I think he's angry. Then, I realize that his eyes are red and that he's upset.

His sister tells me, "It's a salamander. It died."

Turns out he found it under a rock earlier today. He was keeping it in a desk during school. By the end of the day it was no longer alive.

I have to say, this one grabbed my heartstrings and tugged pretty hard. I could tell that, no matter how unlikely it might have seemed to an adult, this little boy thought he had found a pet that he could take home and take care of.

I gave him a hug. I asked him to show it to me. He told me he thought it was a girl. I told him that she was pretty cute. I asked if he wanted to take her home and put her in the garden. He said yes. We found a nice spot in the garden in front of our house, under a rock, and put the salamander there.

We've never been a pet family. Except for a turtle, nine years ago. Which didn't last long after we had twins. We found it a nice pond to live out its days in.

But this *does* make me think again. I wonder if there's a nice lizard or something out there that's easy to care for?

Zing.


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(Should all this have surprised me? I think not. Look at this picture from last summer... after young mister found a friend at the playground)