Ok, so I'm a liar. Here's how it all started:
Last week one of our cats was in the house (they aren't allowed) and wasn't walking at all. I felt bad for him, so I put him in my room thinking he may not live. I told the kids (big mistake #1) that I thought he might die or have to be put down. What was I thinking?! Braxton lost it. He cried and sobbed and mourned all night long. He is such a tender hearted kid. I really love it in some ways, but in some situations I just want to tell him to buck up and get over it. Well, the cat ended up having a broken pelvis, and the vet said he would live, it would just take several weeks to heal. Ok, lesson learned: Don't tell the kids until I know for sure, and when I do tell them, sugar coat it. What I actually did: LIE.
Fast forward a few days. Three teenage girls come to my house and pull out a teensy bunny that looks dead. They ask me to help them, and want to know if I know what to do to help this bunny live. It was a wild cotton tail and looked to be only a few weeks old. It was actually alive, but wasn't moving very much. Of course, the kids were all in the living room and very interested in what was going on. Braxton got really involved and decided it was his mission to research. He went upstairs and googled "how to take care of a wild baby rabbit".
In the mean time, I pulled out my heating pad to warm the bunny up and got a medicine dropper to try to hydrate it. While doing this Braxton came down stairs completely excited, telling us how to care for the rabbit, and exactly what we needed to do. While I was giving water to the rabbit, Braxton's friend came to pick him up to go somewhere, so he didn't see that the rabbit completely stopped breathing. Chris and I were sure it was dead. The girls weren't so sure, so they took the bunny and left.
When Braxton came home he asked if the bunny lived.
Me: "Yeah"
Braxton: "Oh, mom, I knew it would. I prayed to Heavenly Father, and that's when I knew I should go upstairs and google to see what we should do."
All day today he has been saying how glad and thankful he is that the bunny lived and how wonderful it is that we saved the bunny's life.
Ugh....guilt, guilt, guilt for lying. I don't think he can handle it though. He was saying he knew the bunny would live, and it would have been so sad if it had died.
People around here shoot cottontails as target practice. He'd die if he ever found out.
4 comments:
I love reading your stuff... Braxton sounds just like my Drake.. oldest brother stuff i guess. sometimes as moms we have to soften the truth...lol
I remember being exactly like that as a child. I can't believe he googled it. What a tenderheart!
You should have called me, after all I did raise 9 baby bunnies....
I keep forgetting how old Braxton really is! He is so smart and sweet to think about looking up how to care for the bunny.
I'm sure we are all guilty of telling a small fib to spare hurting someones feelings. Repent and move on :).
It is totally part of our job!! We protect our kids feelings.
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