Growing Up

Olivia has been mourning for the loss of Pippin's virility. Without knowing too many details, she understands that Pippin will not be able to make any children. She feels this is very sad. She is anthropomorphizing and feels that he will be lonely and unfulfilled. I explained to her that we are the family that Pippin needs, and Eowyn is his partner even if they can't have children, and that it would be unfair to them to have a litter of kittens. It still just doesn't make sense to her, but she will get it in time. She is an amazing little scientist and constantly asks why, probing for more and more details, asking me to look things up when I don't know the answer.

This morning Elijah heard a squeak coming out of the birds' cage. It seemed some of their eggs, which we assumed were all duds, might hatch after all. We watched them all day, hoping for something exciting. Tonight when I checked in one them, I found the source of a squeak. One of the birds had hatched, but it was not well and the birds had cast it aside. The children were very sad. Olivia expressed her feelings by drawing pictures and crying. Elijah expressed hope that one of the eggs might have better luck. I checked the eggs and found that the rest were dead or infertile. He will be so disappointed.

What amazed me was how easily children transition from bird eggs to trying to probe into the details of human reproduction. Sex ed must have come very naturally in lifestyles where people lived more involved in the life cycles of animals.

Today Elijah changed from a Wolf to a Bear. He traded his yellow neckerchief in for a blue one. It was a nice moment. Not only was it poignant watching Elijah grow up before our eyes, but even seeing the other boys advance had a powerful effect on me. The Tigers were so little and now they are Wolves. Somehow seeing the colors of the neckerchiefs change makes it easy for the brain to understand, as if the light could become an icon for time.

Afterwards, Lee and the Cubmaster talked some. We offered for me to teach the religion class if they still need a teacher for next year. I suspect that they will have more volunteers so they may not need me. Lee also talked to the Cubmaster about moving toward taking a more active role next year. Scouts has been so good for him, really almost as good as it has been for Elijah. The Cubmaster also asked if we need some help to pay for Elijah to go to summer camp. The cubs camp is only a few days but he wants to go and we really want him to go, too. The church that sponsors the pack will give him a scholarship. We do not want that but at the same time it will take the worry off. The Cubmaster really likes Elijah and expressed his regard for Elijah and how well he has taken to Scouting. It was heartwarming.  Scouts is one of the things that is making life better for us as we move forward away from this more difficult time. I am happy that Elijah has something that he is such a natural with.