The rock chucks were squeaking at one another in the cold afternoon sunshine as I rode my horse in the arena yesterday. As I cantered in circles, all around me I could hear "Squeak!" nearby, and then answering squeaks from off to the left and the right. A hawk was circling over, so I imagine the chucks were warning each other about the dangers of becoming someone's lunch.
For the oddest reason I'm fighting baby fever right now. I normally get bit by the bug in the spring, but its come early this year. With a house full of critters, adding a puppy or kitten to the mix to be a subsitute for a sweet, squishy real baby is out of the question. But we lost a couple of hens over the winter, so a batch of baby chicks to fill out the flock will have to suffice. They're so cute when they arrive, fluffy and yellow. If you hold them enough they become tame in no time at all. You can cuddle them up under your neck and they'll happily take a short nap. (They'll also happily deposit a little chick-turd on you, but it comes with the territory. You want babies, you gotta deal with pooh.)
By the time they hit about 12 weeks they're ready to go outside and they don't look like babies any more at all. It seemed the last batch turned into full grown chickens practically overnight. Its an abbreviated example of what happens to our human babies, isn't it? I keep looking at this long-legged, long haired gorgeous girl and I wonder what happened to that six month old bundle of chub and drool.
Saturday she was complaining about a bump on her face, and I kind of laughed it off. "Maybe you've gotten your first zit!" Then a sobering thought hit me -- Maybe she DID have her first zit. I made her let me look at her armpits, and right there in front of my eyes, was tantamount proof. I have an adolescent child in my house.
I did what any normal parent would do. I panicked. Then I ran to the store and bought her a brand new razor and some shaving cream, and just in case, a small pack of maxi pads.
Do I think her period's going to start tomorrow? Oh hell, I hope NOT. But it stands to reason that I might not be home when it does, or she'll be at her dad's house. Better to be prepared, right? So we sat down together and I explained what happens to girls as they grow older and start to mature physically. I'm such a fantastic mother I actually managed to cause her to burst into tears with my description of what happens when you get your monthly cycle.
I'm already practicing my speech for the Mother of the Year.
I did manage to get her calmed down, and then we got the books off the shelf that explain these things far better than Mama can.
Spring is coming soon. Change is just around the corner no matter how ill-prepared I might be. I guess I'd better work on being more ready than not.
