"Mommy, can I call you in a minute? It's really, really important!"
"Of course!" I responded while also knowing that "really, really important" can vary anywhere between I started by period and look at my drawing.
As I answer the video call from my 11 year old daughter, I can't tell if she is laughing or crying. She walks over to the hamster cage at her dad's house and shows me that it's empty. Not thinking, I ask if he escaped. That's when it dawns on me that she's crying because Pumpkin the Hamster has died. She is distraught and almost inconsolable. Her text to me before going to bed echoed her thoughts on Pumpkins death, "First I have a fight with my friend and now Pumpkin is dead. This is the worst thing ever!" The death of a pet is a tragic loss for her 11 year old brain.
In the midst of my 11 year old crying, I get a text from my 10 year old son, "Mommy I have sad news pumpkin died: ( she was not breathing when I came into Autumn's room. RIP Pumpkin." I immediately text and ask if he's okay. "Yes, it's sad, but she lived a happy life." The death of a pet is just a part of life for his 10 year old brain.
I hadn't heard anything from my 13 year old son, so I text him to make sure he's okay. "Yep, but I think we should have pumpkin pie for dinner tomorrow." I can't help but laugh. The texts don't stop rolling in, "does this mean I can get a lizard now?" "Wonder if Daddy will put Pumpkin in the garden with the other Halloween pumpkins?" The death of a pet is dealt with using humor for his 13 year old brain.
It amazes me how the same situation elicits such different reactions from my own three kids. Their brains will never stop leaving me in awe.
