The Bird

The bird...  I've been wanting to share about the bird for quite some time.  But it is still a slightly raw subject for both Rudolfo and me, so I had to let it simmer for a few weeks before I tried to put it all into words.

 

It started out with the discovery of a baby bird in the front yard one Sunday morning.  At first, we thought it might have blown out of its nest in a windy storm the day before.  The kids were all excited to watch it and got it a little capful of water in case it got thirsty.  I warned them to keep their distance as I heard the echos of my own mother's warnings from childhood about touching wild birds and their mothers rejecting them. 

 

After about 15 minutes of careful observation, most of the kids lost interest and wandered away. Not so much for Rudolfo.   It was then the the bird went on the move.  It flew a few short spurts into a nearby evergreen.  I assumed it would be safe (and forgotten) in there and started chatting with a neighbor, paying much less attention to the interest Rudolfo still had in this little creature.

 

Much to my surprise, it wasn't long before Rudolfo had found a feather and coaxed the little bird from the tree and onto the feather!

 

 

And despite my best attempts at explaining why he should get that bird back to the tree immediately, my English "white noise" went unheeded.

 

At this point, I was becoming increasingly incredulous at the way Rudolfo handled, calmed, and coaxed the bird. 



 

He found the seeds from our garden that we had seen adult finches feeding on and gave some to the bird, now named Xiao Nian (Show -rhymes with "cow"; Nee-on), meaning "little bird."  How appropriate.  :)

 

 

He offered entertainment to Xiao Nian in the form of bike rides. Maybe he thought the speed might encourage the little guy to try some more flying?  Or maybe he just thought since he likes his bike so much, the bird might too.  Who knows.  

 

Xiao Nian was cared for and pampered for several hours.  Eventually,we heard the mama bird calling for baby bird and baby bird was answering her calls.  I explained that we couldn't keep a bird and the bird would probably get sick if we tried to raise it, but that its mama could take good care of it in the tree.  Rudolfo mulled that over for a bit and hesitantly returned it to the tree in the front yard.

 

Xiao Nian hopped daintily up higher and higher into the branches.  There was immediate remorse.  Rudolfo climbed the tree to try and get the bird back.  He couldn't quite keep up.  I coaxed him down and praised him for helping the bird find its mama.  I tried to distract him with a popsicle.  That was only a temporary solution.  He soon went back out looking for his beloved bird.  He could no longer see it.  He became more and more obsessed with the bird. 

 

After what seemed like an eternity (and was actually more than an hour) of talking to him and redirecting and encouraging and explaining - all through the translator app on my phone - I finally just insisted that we go inside for a rest.  He was mad.  Really mad. 

 

I needed a little space, so I went to my room to read a book while he went to his to throw a book.  After the first crash, I moved to the hallway to read so I was visible to him.  He pulled himself away from the edge of violence, but pouted on the floor over a magazine.  I decided to go lie down next to him with my book.  We were just still for a while.  Then he spotted a Lego robot ad in the magazine.  Voila!  New obsession...

 

He asked me with his sweetest face if he could have the robot.  Now, this kid has absolutely no concept of commerce, earning money, spending money, etc.  This is completely understandable, but I took the opportunity to explain that the robot had to be purchased and he could buy it if he did some jobs for me to earn some money.  I gave him a list of 10 jobs , each paying a dollar, and thought he might have the attention span to get one or two done that day. A few hours and $5 later, I realized that I'd better open up my schedule for the following day to allow a trip to the store.  He worked his little tail off and earned all the money he needed by the very next morning.  Unfortunately, the exact set he wanted was out of stock in the store (despite stating online that it was in stock - grrr), but a Lego helicopter fit the bill instead and provided hours of flying fun.

I wish I could say that was the last of the bird saga, but it has been 4 weeks since that day and he still brings up the bird.  He asked me just this morning if he could find "his bird."  The only difference between his request four weeks ago and his request today is that the sadness is now expressed in English instead of Chinese.  He loved that little bird, and for a boy who has already endured so much loss, the thought of setting that bird free just brings up a lingering longing.  And I bet that longing goes deep - much deeper than for a simple little bird.