This is T filling in as guest blogger for this post. J and I are in Labor and Delivery waiting on pitocin to get some real labor going (that will be for another post). We figured that everyone would want an update on the MW and Cookie incident.
First of all, thank you all for your prayers for our little girl. We really did not know how she would react and it was a great comfort to know of the many prayers said for her. She made us incredibly proud. J tearfully woke up MW and told her the sad news. MW processed most of her grief in silence as she and J went to look at the grave. Some slow tears started when she looked at the little grave and she decided that Scout had "heart attacked" Cookie. She and J then made a search of the house perimeter to see if there were any holes through which Scout could have escaped from the house (which of course there weren't, but J did tell MW that both she and I had let Scout out for a little while during the night and morning). MW asked if she could get another kitten. We'd discussed this option and decided she'd shown herself responsible and had earned that privilege, and so the answer was "of course."
MW spent the morning with a pretend kitten in her Easter basket, along with a mitten and a chalk egg - which she insisted was an imaginary "ball of yarn" and spent the better part of the day carrying it around...stroking the kitten...in a rather melancholy mood. Later in the day she laid next to Scout on the kitchen floor and said, "Scout I know you were just trying to play with Cookie when you heart attacked her, but you've got to be more kind to animals." Several times during the day, MW took a play kitten and cat food up in the playhouse where she could be alone and see Cookie's grave. Late in the afternoon J was out there with her and MW very seriously said, "Mom, I think it's time to put this behind us and move on." She hasn't said much about Cookie since. However, that afternoon she decided she really wants a puppy instead of a kitten (thank goodness).
MW showed very focused determination about catching that cat. We haven't seen anything quite like that in her before. Her maturity and understanding of responsibility seem to have taken a leap ahead just from the few days that she took care of Cookie. Something about that cat brought out some really good qualities in MW (I'm glad God knows what He is doing, because a pet cat would be the absolute last thing I would chose to help my daughter mature). I'm really proud of MW.
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