The gospel according to Tommy

Three weeks have passed, and our baby chicks are hatching in my incubator.  When I went out to check on them, Tommy tagged along.  Imagine his surprise to find all those baby chicks inside that big box mommy had loaded up a few weeks ago.  I took a soft fluffy ball out and put it in his hands.  He was in love.

So for the rest of that day, he was after me to 'go hold the chicks'. 

I kept telling him no.  I tried explaining that we could not keep opening the incubator.  The eggs and newly hatched chicks need to stay warm, and opening the door lowers the temperature.  That thought was not within the realm of his three year old comprehension.  In his mind, those little chicks only needed his touch to continue living.  And he needed them to continue living too, if you go by how many times a day he hounded me.

Finally, he told me that if I did not let him hold a chick, he would not love me.  "Well, I guess you will just have to not love me."  I replied.  Now, Tommy is no dummy, and he knows how much his mommy loves his hugs and kisses, because he himself is hounded all day to give her a quick hug or kiss as he's heading off to new adventures.  So this comment surprised him very much, and gave him a quick pause to regather his thoughts.  Then he grinned, because he knew mommy's other vulnerable spot.  "If you don't let me love you," he said, knowing he had a home run here, "you will go to the devil."

hmmmm....I missed that one in the Bible somehow...

But yesterday was a new day, and we needed to get the day old chicks out of the incubator.  So I called Tommy from his play over to the shed, and we opened the incubator door.

About half the eggs have hatched, and more were cheeping.  We carefully began to gather the already hatched chicks off the still hatching eggs.

Note the position of the chick.  No, it's not dead, but now you understand why we don't open the incubator and hold them every hour or so!

My hot sweaty little boy had his fill of holding chicks, then ran off to where Mary Susannah was offering to play in the water hose with her younger brothers, sister, and nephew who is spending a few days with us.

While they played, I moved the hatched chicks to their new temporary home.

They are happy, and Tommy is happy.

And my salvation is once again assured!