#alllivesmatter

Yesterday my eldest who is three and a half came back in from our garden saying that he’d stepped on the baby sparrow my husband had rescued a few days back.

I don’t know if this actually happened. Benjamin is still in that age where he actively fuses elements of imagination into his reality – which I by the way adore and encourage. And since we speak three languages at home, Benjamin sometimes struggles to properly express himself. Therefore I’ve learned to take his words as a guidance of sorts and not necessarily as the most accurate depiction of events. 

I could not see any injuries but the bird did seem confused and out of balance  – as she (let’s say it’s a she..) had been at times before because she’d hurt her wing and couldn’t fly.

Be the change you want to see in the world

Even so, I was crushed. The thought that my boy could consciously harm a living being felt unbearable. So we talked. And we cried. But talk is cheap, so I had to lead by example. As I thought I’d been doing all the way – but obviously not enough. So we put the poor sparrow back into the garden where her mom – which comes to feed her several times a day – can find her. Benjamin brought water , and we also tried to feed her. We made a heart for the bird. We checked on the bird several times a day, and to our relief, she eventually got back to her regular wobbly self. 

In a hindsight, I don’t think Benjamin had hurt the bird. He knows perfectly well the mantra my husband and I have been repeating all along: ”Animals are friends – not food”. 

But we both got a lesson:

Peace, plants & love /Milda & Benjamin