I kind of figured the really hard stuff would be down the road… tennis, calculus, programming in C++… stuff that requires me to bring in a professional, or at least look it up in a really deep book.
But today Miss Maddie (age 8 tomorrow!) GOT ME!
“Mom! It’s a snake!!! Oh, it’s soooooo cute! Can I pick it up?”
Well isn’t the answer obvious?
Ewwww, NO!
Maddie has developed this fascination with snakes, of late. On our last vacation, she was able to touch an albino corn snake named Peaches. It really was quite pretty, but definitely not on my top 10 “maybe” list for potential pets. A few weeks ago she checked out a book at the library. Upon realizing that snakes are meat-eaters (Maddie is a vegetarian), I thought we might be growing past the snake phase.
But this really was a tiny snake AND I could hear Dr. Mandy’s voice shaming me. “It’s just a harmless little snake. Cute, huh?”
I couldn’t deny it.
Mandy is my forever friend from childhood who has ALWAYS had a snake or two among her menagerie. I’ve watched her pick them up dozens of times. I’ve seen her drape big bull snakes around her neck. I’ve watched her get absolutely giddy over the hatching of ball pythons.
On my own, I probably would have stood and watched the snake for… many minutes, at least. But touch it? Not me. Pick it up? No thanks.
Finally, I instructed Maddie on the technique I’ve seen Mandy use. “Pick him up behind the head. Don’t squeeze too hard.” I finished with, “From there you are on your own. I can’t help you any more than that.”
Then I ran to get the camera – documenting these events is something I AM capable of doing well.
So my kiddo did it. She picked up her very first snake. And, by golly if I didn’t feel just a little bit proud.
It wasn’t calculus, but it was a milestone, none-the-less.
3 comments:
The rule is they can't bring them into the house around here! Maddie is looking so grown up. Tell her happy birthday from the Magoos!
Where did those little babies go?
That is an excellent photo. And it is true--Madison grew up while I was not looking. Good work, Mom.
I'm thinkin', Maddie, that when you're grown a bit bigger you might be able to have a career where you dance with snakes to entertain people like Mom, who just don't want to. Plus, you'd be in charge, so you could cause them to become vegetarians! Oma
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