3 of 23

Write now Article Tools

When my son was little I was afraid he was going to grow up to be a serial killer. He had no idea that animals could feel pain and I had to be ever vigilant to make sure the animals remained safe. I was in the kitchen one day making lunch when I heard giggling coming from the bathroom. There stood my son looking down at four kittens stuffed in the toilet just seconds away from being flushed away. That was it I was now sure he would grow up to torture and kill people.

He was only two years old so I knew I still had a small window to get him turned around. Every day my son and I practiced petting a toy stuffed cat. At first I let him poke his finger into the cat's eye to see how the eye felt. Then he felt his own eye. "Ouch that hurts," he cried. Kicking our house cat was forbidden for obvious reasons but when my son accidentally kicked himself he learned that hurt. Be gentle was the word of the day.

At age two and one half my son discovered he loved all things that crawled in the dirt. So there we were my son and I down on our hands and knees checking out ants, stink bugs, grass snakes and long fat worms. We had the look but do not touch rule. At age three he could gently pick up the grass snakes and feel the texture of their warm skin compared to say the skin of a slimy frog he found swimming in the pond. Hot summer nights we spent on the porch watching lightening bugs flit about never to be captured and put in a jar.

By age four my son and I kept a garden. He would help me lug the watering can out to the garden and water his very own pumpkin patch. In the fall we raked up all the garden waste and compost it for the coming year. He was learning about the cycle of life. Life could be harsh but it was our job to be good stewards of the land and the animals.

Winter brought heavy snow in the snow belt of New York State. My son and I spent a lot of time watching the cardinals sitting on a blue spruce tree looking for all the world like Christmas tree decorations. Blue Jays would flash by the windows to remind us to fill up the bird feeders. Squirrels would actually sit on the window sill and put their paws together as if praying for a peanut.

When he turned five we were living in the city. There he learned to appreciate how fall flowers could bloom under a heavy blanket of snow. He watched a family of gray squirrels chased the family of black squirrels through the neighborhood in a wonderful game of tag. My son got to watch his mom pick up and relocate a huge snapping turtle caught between the fence lines. "Gentle mom, be gentle," he coaxed me as I bravely carried the turtle to the garden. He also cried when I found a new home for a stray kitten we found in the middle of a January cold snap.

At fourteen he is still in awe of animals and nature. He would have a zoo in his bedroom if I let him. He also doesn't burn ants with a magnifying glass or pull wings off flies for fun. He cried when he buried his beloved cat Baby and still tries to carry his 12 year old Yellow Lab. Bruno around the house. He recues kittens and cries when he has found their owners. He loves the sport of fishing but always throws the fish back into the water. He is not the same little guy who tried to stuff the kittens in the toilet or poke them with a stick. My son has learned to be a steward of animals and of nature and I for one am very proud.

Learn more about this author, Sandria Mushero.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about How to give your children an appreciation of animals and nature?
We want to hear your view. Write now!