Last week, we found an egg on top of a suitcase in the attic of my bedroom. We also saw two pigeons flying in and out of the always-open bedroom window. The kids were excited but I was in a dilemma. I did not know what to do because I was concerned about the mess that would be created and that too in my bedroom!
The hubby and I did some research and found that the pigeons always lay a pair of eggs and they don’t empty the nest for around 50 days in total! Now that was a really long time for us to tolerate them inside the house. We decided that we would not allow the pigeons to start their family in our house but were very concerned about the kind of role models we were going to be for the kids due to this ‘barbaric’ act!
Deep inside, I was very sad about the whole thing. Again I took refuge in the internet and read many experiences where people made the same decision that we made and consoled myself that the birds would find some other place and it’s not a very big deal (well, it still makes me guilty). The kids were questioning incessantly about the whole event and we were not able to break it to them that we were about the throw the egg away.
So, now my husband comes up with a brilliant idea. He tells the kids that they were going to make a bird nest out of scratch and place the egg in it so that the pigeons find and start hatching it :-). The kids were obviously excited. So he took out his tools, wood, nails, hammer et al and the three of them started building this “hakki goodu”. I was quite surprised to see him go about the task with such dedication that I deduced that he was feeling as guilty as I was and had just not talked about it. The nest was ready and the egg was placed on top of carefully selected bits of twigs and cotton and this was hung on my terrace. The kids spent the evening waiting for the birds to magically know that their new nest was ready and to start using it. But alas, as we had guessed, no bird came. The kids were disappointed (and somewhere deep down we were too) but the thrill of building the nest kept them occupied and happy.
I want to assume that we have not really abandoned a family and we have done our best and have also tried to set a good example to the kids. Parenting is surely not an easy task!
The hubby and I did some research and found that the pigeons always lay a pair of eggs and they don’t empty the nest for around 50 days in total! Now that was a really long time for us to tolerate them inside the house. We decided that we would not allow the pigeons to start their family in our house but were very concerned about the kind of role models we were going to be for the kids due to this ‘barbaric’ act!
Deep inside, I was very sad about the whole thing. Again I took refuge in the internet and read many experiences where people made the same decision that we made and consoled myself that the birds would find some other place and it’s not a very big deal (well, it still makes me guilty). The kids were questioning incessantly about the whole event and we were not able to break it to them that we were about the throw the egg away.
So, now my husband comes up with a brilliant idea. He tells the kids that they were going to make a bird nest out of scratch and place the egg in it so that the pigeons find and start hatching it :-). The kids were obviously excited. So he took out his tools, wood, nails, hammer et al and the three of them started building this “hakki goodu”. I was quite surprised to see him go about the task with such dedication that I deduced that he was feeling as guilty as I was and had just not talked about it. The nest was ready and the egg was placed on top of carefully selected bits of twigs and cotton and this was hung on my terrace. The kids spent the evening waiting for the birds to magically know that their new nest was ready and to start using it. But alas, as we had guessed, no bird came. The kids were disappointed (and somewhere deep down we were too) but the thrill of building the nest kept them occupied and happy.
I want to assume that we have not really abandoned a family and we have done our best and have also tried to set a good example to the kids. Parenting is surely not an easy task!
