A Rat, a Bat, a Bird...

A rat, a bat and a bird with a worm on her bill.

My kids know all these things exists. Exposed to them closely, they were not. The past few days were full of excitement for them because they get to see them up close. Not all at the same time, of course. (Or else it would be too much, arrgh!)

The rat. We were on our way to a restaurant when my youngest daughter climbed a low wall and proceeded to do some balancing acts. Concentrated on the path, she suddenly yelped. 'Mama, look, a mouse!'

I was so surprised I told her to jump in my arms. (Akala ko buhay e.) She then yelled for her Ate and her Papa to come and see what she discovered. When Papa reassured us that it is not moving anymore, the two girls went a little closer. Since it is so big to be called a mouse, Papa said it is a rat. Of course my two girls excitedly said,' oh, now we can tell our teachers in kindergarten that we already saw a rat.'

The bat. We were on our way to visit a ballet mate of my eldest daughter. On reaching their front lawn, my daughters stopped and simply stared down. I came back for them, as I wanted to ring the doorbell already. In the middle of the pathway was a small, gray, hairy creature. They both shouted, 'it's a mouse.' That brought the opa of the house running to us. He said it could be a mouse. But I dont really agree because I saw the front, very thin, legs stretched so wide. Maybe an exotic mouse. When the opa picked it up, we saw both wings flapping. After a few second of shrieks (mine was the loudest), the opa decided to throw it back to the bushes. His theory is that the bat fell from its nest. Maybe the nest was on the biggest tree in the front yard. Uggh. Am glad it didnt fall on our heads, though. And my kids? 'Mama, this is cool. We saw a real bat.'

The bird with a worm on her bill. Crossing the street this morning, my youngest suddenly shouted, 'look!' Oh yeah, another one for storytime. But they were a bit sad because they saw that the worm is still alive. Trying to wiggle itself out of the mouth of the bird.

Then my eldest counted off, ' a rat, a bat and a bird with a worm - mama, we are lucky to see these things.'