The other day, I saw a baby bird at the bottom of our porch steps breathing heavy and unable to move. I felt so sad because it seemed like it was going to die because of it’s broken wing or leg. I was also feeling worried since it wasn’t able to fly and there were a few stray cats prowling around.
Ninjette wanted to pick up the bird and kept following it as it was trying to hop away from us. I think she forgets that she is a GIANT compared to these tiny little birds. All I was thinking about was how I was going to make a splint for this tiny bird and nurse it back to health. I think I watched one too many episodes of Curious George where wild animals can be nursed back to health in a shoe box.
Luckily for that baby bird, I had the sense to call the MSPCA.
After speaking with someone at the MSPCA, I decided that it would be better to just have the bird moved to a safe area and let the mother get to it or for it to figure out how to fly on its own. (Did you know that if you bring an injured wild animal in to the MSPCA that they have to euthanize it?) We made sure the baby bird got to a safe place and heard it chirping with the mama bird, so we thought it would be okay to leave it alone. Ninjette was chirping away telling the baby bird to find her mama by saying, “Tweet, tweet, tweet.”
Our little baby bird experience got me thinking about my own baby bird, Ninjette. Many times, I want to help her, protect her, and just do things for her to make it easier for her. At the core of my heart, I don’t want her to suffer or go through hardships. I want her to navigate through life easily, but I know that those bumps and difficulties are good for her and needed.
A wise mentor and friend told me about how butterflies struggle to get out of their cocoon and that the struggling is what helps them to build strength in their wings to fly. She told me this little story when I was asking her about a difficult time I was going through with little ninjette. It’s so hard to let go and let her experience her life – even as a little preschooler. I’ve definitely been trying to grow in my patience and have tried hard to relax and not hover.
As much as I wanted to help that little baby bird, it may have just been learning how to fly and sometimes, when we are learning how to fly, we will fall. It was a great lesson to learn from one mama bird to another.