Monday, September 26, 2011

Company in the wee small hours........

On my weekly insomniac night tonight and it's not so bad now there is a living creature who keeps me company through the night. Mollie is the newest addition to our family - an adorable bichon freise pup who has stolen all our hearts away, She has replaced the remote control as the signt of supremacy in the house. Whoever Mollie chooses to bestow her friendly little face and warm affectionate body on is King of the Hill.

We haven't had much luck with pets really, Sylvester and Tuppence our rabbits froze to death last year in a snap frost the day after I mentioned we ought to be taking them into the garage for the winter. Son#2 devastated. The year before that we got Dora, a terrier cross mongrel from Dogs Trust but I made the unilateral decision to return her after a week because her bad habits were too ingrained for inexperienced dog owners like us. I still feel terrible when I think of poor aul' Jemser's face reacting to my insisting she was going back. He loved her and he looked like a disappointed little boy. Do we ever out grow our childhood emotions?

We've had a few hamsters  - they mostly lived out their natural lifespan of two years.They all had weird names Skibbley was one of them, Hermione another.  There were a pair of adorable zebra finches that son#1 killed by mistake when he fed them slow release plant food pellets instead of bird seed. Cyril the canary flew away when his cage was knocked over in the garden one summer evening  - I hope he had one last glorious flight in freedom. There was an anarchic budgie who HATED me and would only let son#1 handle her. She always pecked me and gave out when I cleaned out her cage or replaced food and water. Ungrateful little bitch! She fell off her perch one night and son#! was devastated - I think that was the last time I saw him cry - he was about twelve, he's seventeen now.

Pets, apart from their general cuteness and company, offer a great way of explaining grief and death to children - sounds heartless I know but as life is only a preparation for death it's no harm introducing them gently to the hugeness of death as fact via our animal friends. Kids can then see that life goes on for the living, we respectfully bury the deceased pet, talk about them kindly and move on. I think I feel an aul' ramble on about Death 'n stuff coming on.

I have no fear of death, I think it'd be nice to have an endless coladh samh (stop worrying family - I'm not suicidal!). I've done my job - turned out two gorgeous talented intelligent boys in sons #1 and #2 and aided and abetted in turning out two brilliant bright and beautiful women in stepdaughters #1 and #2. I feel very privileged to have been allowed to mammy these people. I look at them in awe sometimes and think  -'I did that. Me!I helped make them what they are.' Along with the Jemser of course. We didn't make such a bad team really. I think it was Jim's Mam Teresa who said 'you get the children you deserve'. It's true - what you put into your kids you get back in spades. I loved them - told them I loved them- gave them the gift of books books and more books, told them they could be anyone, do anything they wanted to do and that the only limit on them would be their own fears and that the only way to conquer a fear is to face it and pass through it.

I'm giving meself a pat on the back. And a virtual hug. Well done Evo - top of the class. 

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