"I am too much of a lady to stab you in the eyeball with this fork."
K.C.

"She was the most hatefullest woman..."

hubba bubba

"Your meanness right now is taking you down the noodle notch..."

a.w.

"now hold on...I want to tell you about my feelings of upsetness..."

l.b.

i don't remember reading a chapter in any of the parenting books that would prepare a mother for this:

lilli found them in the backyard a couple of Saturdays ago.  she had gone out to play with the dog and they were in the grass, next to a toy.  there were three, but only these two were still breathing.  the dog left them alone.  what do you do when your daughter comes to you with tears and leads you to this?
sigh
I don't know what the books would say, but I looked at lilli and decided that we would try to help them.  nature can be cruel and that's hard to explain, but we couldn't sit by and let it happen and I didn't want to model that attitude for the girls.  we're helpers.
I plucked the dangling nest from the tree (yeah...climbed up the ladder and everything) and oh so carefully picked up first one and then the other and put them back in their nest.  lilli was shaking and still tearful, but she had more purpose.  she watched them...monitored their vital signs and reported their every move.
we got in the car and headed for the vet.
Ryan, at the Petsmart in Matthews was awesome.  he treated lilli with professionalism, but he wasn't detached.  he and I had words with our eyes over lilli's head.  he quickly adopted an air of serious purpose and announced that he would take them back to the vet.  lilli wouldn't say goodbye to them...she leaned against me and sobbed.  there was a lady at the desk, too and she gave lilli a hug.
we went home and buried the third.  lilli kept telling it she was sorry.
the plan was to call wildlife rescue, but the odds were not in the their favor.  i'm not sure they made it...they fell pretty far.  but as far as lilli needs to know, they are safe and in a better place.