So, I'm tired of starting off each post explaining why it has taken me so long to post. I'll just assume you can fill in the blanks (kids, sickness, JBF, school, weather, whatever comes to mind...) and move on to the real deal.
I was talking with Clara today and telling her that she only has 8 weeks of school left (they get out early at their school, esp. kindergarten). I said then you'll be in first grade next year. She informed me that she didn't want to be in first grade, but wanted to stay in Mrs. Matejka's class. I reminded her that she could see Mrs. Matejka everyday if she wanted, but that she would be in first grade. She thought that over for a minute, then announced, "I want to be in 2nd grade!" Don't you love sibling rivalry????
I was pestering John Michael later, tickling him, giving away kisses and he told me "I give all my loves to the bird." "Really, I asked - why did you do that?" "Cause then the bird can give love to all the other birdies." Very sweet, no? So then I had to persist and ask, do you still have enough love for me and Daddy and your brothers (okay, they are sisters, but he insists they are his "bruders"). At first he said no, but then after a few minutes, he said "I have loves for everyone!" and started attacking me with kisses! Which is crazy for him, since he is usually very stingy with them. But lucky for me, right?
And the last story for tonight (unless I think of more while I am typing). Mike got cornered at lunch by the girls with a very philosophical question. Usually I am the one that tackles these things, but I wasn't with them at their picnic on the porch. While they were getting ready for their picnic, Mike had to get out the wasp spray and kill a wasp. So during lunch, Clara asks Mike "Do wasps have souls?" As Mike was relaying this story to me, I knew it was going to get sticky for him quickly when I heard that question. So Mike gave what he thought would be the quick and easy reply and would move the conversation on to other topics - "No, only people have souls." Now maybe he thought he got away with that, but that delusion could only be short-lived. Gracie piped up with "But did Elvis have a soul?"
Oops- have to pause for a quick update. About one month ago, Elvis got sick one night after dinner. Mike had to run her in to the after hours clinic and they found that her stomach had twisted. A horrible thing (she was in a lot of pain, even with the pain med they gave her) and a big, big surgery to fix. Elvis was almost ten years old, so we decided the surgery and recovery would be too much (and the vet thought so as well), so I took the kids up to the clinic and we all got to say good-bye to her and Mike stayed with her when they put her to sleep. It was very unexpected and a sad time for us (and Coco who really misses her playmate), and no doubt part of what contributed to all these questions about souls.
Back to the story, Mike realized his easy answer wasn't going to work now, so he told Gracie that he thought Elvis probably had a soul. Good thing I wasn't there, we might have gotten into a 30 minute discussion on souls, animals, pets, people, etc. But it's good for them to realize that we certainly don't know all of the answers either!
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