Neutered

Every spring the sheep have their lambs. The sheep live about 1 mile from us in a field next to the Alpine Highway or 100 East to the locals. Every fall and winter we watch them wander around the field eating whatever sheep eat, growing fleece and and getting fatter with the impending lambs.

Between the end of February and mid-March we start looking for the lambs. We drive that way a few times a week on the way to the kids' piano lessons which gives us a great reason to look for the lambs. We drove by a few weeks ago and there were the sheep laying all over the field or standing awkwardly on their little black legs, fat and round and lazy, waiting for the lambing time to begin.

About a week ago we drove past again and notice several little black lambs standing near their mothers, nursing or gamboling on their scrawny, wobbly legs with their long tails still intact. When I told my dad about it he commented that they wouldn't have their tails for much longer. Still a farmer at heart. We noticed at the time that some of the sheep were still pregnant. A few days later they had all given birth.

We were approaching the field on Saturday when the children asked to pull next to the field to look at the lambs. We watched them for a few minutes then drove on. Molly had a question: "Wouldn't it be funny if people could be fixed like dogs?" Where did this come from??!!

I asked her what she meant knowing full well what she was talking about. She said, "Well, like you can spay the girl dogs and neuter the boy dogs so they can't have more babies like Pepper (our dog)."

I told her, "Well, they do, honey. It's called tubal ligation for girls and a vasectomy for boys."

She said, "Really?"

How did a pleasant look at the lambs turn into sex education? Oh, yeah.

Yesterday my son came into the office right after the bell rang. He was crying loudly with his hand pressed to his cheek. I asked him what had happened and he said that someone had slapped him. I asked him who had done this and he told me a name which I had to help him identify by picture on my computer. It was one of the Rabbits. I called the Rabbit into the office and asked him why he had slapped my child. He told me, " It was a joke. It was just a joke!" I said, "Well, he doesn't look like he thinks it's a joke. He's crying and you hurt him. I'm calling your dad." Then he got this look in his eye of "oh no" and left the office. I called the dad who is in law enforcement and calmly let him know what had happened. I said, "I didn't yell at him but I did speak to him sternly." Dad said, "Well, you could have. You should have!" He then said he'd take care of it. So I have to wonder what happened last night.

My son cried for about 20 minutes. At one point he said that it had gone from stinging to hurting. He must have really smacked my kid hard. That just makes me mad. We aren't a physical family; not a lot of roughhousing. My point is that parents need to keep in mind what happens at home will almost always come to school.

And that's all I have to say about that.