Appreciation for Our Four-Legged Companions

Last night, Daniel made an observation about animals that surely most people must share:

"Daddy, gerbils and mice are some of the nicest animals."

Daniel loves mice almost as much as he loves gerbils, which I find very touching, because in our domicile-obsessed culture, people are encouraged to loathe mice from a very young age.  And really he's right - they're quite darling.  In fact, within his collection of nutcrackers, he has at least one mouse-soldier nutcracker - and that's the one with the music box, that swings his sword in time to the Nutcracker Suite.

Then Daniel continued:  "Animals are really cute!"  As pedestrian as that might sound, it reflects a wonderful transition for Daniel, from Destructo-Tyke to a young man who has deep sympathy and affection for our furry fellow-creatures.

Then Daniel shared a long-overdue idea with his brother:  "Ian, should we... watch a movie with our gerbils sometime?"

Ian's reaction was the only one a rational person could possibly have:  "I think it's a good idea."

(June 11, 2013)