Going To The Birds

Adam, like most 3 going on 4 year olds has a very active imagination and earlier this spring he discovered he was afraid of birds; so when he ran down the hall and into the kitchen saying he was afraid of that bird hopping around our house I rolled my eyes and exchanged an, Adam's imagination is at it again, look with Jeremiah.

In my defense I did ask Adam where he saw the bird and Jeremiah walked down the stairs and glanced around. Since neither of us saw anything and Adam is, well... Adam, we didn't think much of it.

Two hours later I walked back across the street from my moms' where I had been trying to convince my 12 year old boy that taking summer band for seven days and not having the French horn figured out does not mean he is a failure. As I approached the house Jacob and Isaac had a tale to tell.

Isaac: Mom, There was a bird in the house, I saw it sitting on the couch and I told Jacob, "Jacob, there is a bird in the house sitting on the couch in the living room".

Jacob: (holding the lid from the Lego box and the empty beanie baby basket) I didn't believe him so he said, "Come see for yourself".

Isaac: So, then I said, "Jacob I'm not lying, come see for yourself". So he came in and saw the bird. How did a bird get in our house? Why do bird's go in houses? Do you think it was a baby bird, it was pretty big I think it was a grown up bird, well maybe it was like a hmm... I guess it was a kid bird. Oh and I got to touch it and it didn't bite me. Ahh Mom, it was such a cute bird I think we should have caught it and kept it for a pet.

Jacob: I trapped it and let it go. It flew into those trees.

I guess I should take Adam more seriously; imaginative though he may be.

Oh, and just in case you wondered... the Beanies babies were dumped out on the floor and there they remain, I can't find the Lego box lid and we still have no idea how a bird got in the house.

Things that go Tweet in the Yard

Lets face it, three year olds are scaredy cats. All my boys have gone through it, they turn three and become more aware of the world it's wonders and also it's dangers and suddenly everything has to be categorized as friend or foe. With Benjamin it was sounds, we spent a night at a cabin when he was three. We were sleeping in a warm upstairs room and had opened the window, there was a babbling brook outside that I found rather pleasant, to Benjamin it was a screaming stream bent on his destruction. Every 20 minutes all night long he would grab me in panic and ask,"Whats that sound!" For Isaac it was the smoke alarm in the hall, it scared him so bad that he wouldn't even walk down the hall alone for a few weeks. They've all had their little three year old fears some amusing some understandable but Adam takes the cake.

Yesterday he went out to play in the sandbox a minute later he came running into the house, slammed the door, and threw himself into my arms screaming, "they're gonna get me!"

"Adam, what's going to get you" I asked, while trying to pry his arms off their strangle hold around my neck. This boy weighs four lbs. more then his five year old brother his favorite pass time is extreme wrestling with his dad, if his feet keep growing at their current rate in a couple of years well be able to tromp him barefoot through the Oregon woods and incite a Sasquatch fad. This kid is the king of tough I couldn't imagine what terrifying thing was in the yard to scare him.

"The bird's Mom, they're gonna get me!" The strangle hold tightens.

"What bird's?" I ask, Joseph, who has followed him in and is observing the whole thing with his usual stoic reaction, answers for him.

"Mom, it was just a bird, it hopped down on the fence."

"Was it a big black bird" I ask? Crows scare me a little, I could understand a crow.

"No just a little bird." Joseph says with a shrug, loses interest and goes back outside.

"Mom why is it getting me?" Adam asked.

"I think it was just hopping down to see what you were doing, I bet if you waved hello to it it would fly away." I gave him my best comforting mom hug and sent him back out.

A minute later he was back, freaking out about birds everywhere, and they were going eat him, no amount of logic could convince him that birds are our friends. He spent the rest of the day standing by windows, checking for birds too afraid to go outside. I spent the rest of the day laughing at him, feeling a little sad that this is my last scaredy cat three year old, and dreading the four year old 'nothing can hurt me' phase.