A Time to be Born.....

We have had lots of "ups" recently and if I could stay on top of the mountain all the time I would prefer it.  But life just isn't that way.  If Ecclesiastes could be written in modern terms it would say, "There's a time for ups and then there's a time for downs."  As much as I would prefer the ups, the downs are an amazing part of life, too.  They really show us how deep our emotions go and bring out new feelings we didn't know existed.

On Sunday we had the amazing experience of watching our young mommy kitten give birth to 5 little kitties.  My little 8 year old daughter and I were her "catwives" as we kept encouraging the poor labouring cat to "breathe through her contractions".  Which she did!  She never once meowed, but breathed heavily as if she'd gone to "cat lamaze labour classes".  Whenever kittens come into our home, everyone just goes nuts and it is kitten mania for weeks.  It is my favourite thing to be a part of as I love kittens, too, but sadly, the joy was short-lived.

We went out on Monday night to get a few things with the whole family.  I had had a feeling earlier on in the day to make sure the kittens were behind a locked door, but then had forgotten to mention it to anyone.  Our new indoor dog had seemed interested in the kittens, but had never done anything when we were around.  Her fascination with them concerned me.

When we got home from the store, I started putting the kids to bed.  Suddenly my 8 year old comes running into the hall crying.  Her pillow was on the floor covered in blood and there was a dead kitten beside it.  The other ones were missing, eaten maybe?  We ran downstairs and she went into the family room so distraught only to find the other ones all over the floor in there, also dead.  What a terrible thing for a little girl to witness!  It was chaos as we threw the dog into the mudroom, tried to get the older boys to clean up the mess quickly and comfort all the crying children.  It was a scene no one wants to remember for a long time.  The crying wouldn't stop!  The youngest kids just couldn't believe it.  We were all in shock.

But this is the strange part.  I'm so glad, in restrospect, it happened.  I haven't seen such compassion between my children before.  My oldest son held my daughter as she cried and cried.  He took full responsibility (though it wasn't his fault) and tried to comfort her through his own tears.  Even though it was a terrible thing to witness, it showed my kids what loss is.  They haven't experienced that very much so it is hard for them to empathize with those who have had serious tragedy.  The next morning we talked about a little boy who had been run over at school last week.  We talked about how the mom of that little boy must be feeling.  We had lost cats, she had lost a son.  They could suddenly be more empathetic.

We read the Ecclesiastes passage, too - remembering "there is a time to be born and a time to die." Was it the little kitties time to die?  I wish it hadn't been, but they didn't make it.  We're pretty sure the dog never intended to eat them, she was just playing with them the way she does with all our stuffed animals.  Once again, farm life is hard, but it teaches so many life lessons.  On the one hand, it makes us want to get rid of all the animals to avoid the pain they bring.  On the other hand, I'm so glad for each experience the animals have brought our children, even the ones that have made us sad.