Several months ago I began to notice that many of the women with whom I was lobbing emails back and forth had a clever quote below their signatures. I thought this was pretty cool, so I figured out how to do it myself. For the first several months I used Margaret Mead’s incredibly overused Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Then a couple of weeks ago, as I was updating my computer, I decided to update my signature and quote as well. I landed on another vastly popular reference attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, You Must Do The Thing You Think You Can Not Do.
I thought that would help gird me for some forseeable challenges and maybe encourage others too. A few of the things that I didn’t think I could do include giving up wine for close to 2 weeks, pick up and dispose of a dead mouse, willingly sign up for a public speaking class, tell my parents my son is gay, stick to my recent household strike for the full 5 days, and confront a teacher over her inappropriate behavior.
Now I have done all of those things. But the night before last I was faced with a never-imagined thing I didn’t think I could do. As I went around the first floor turning off lights, I stopped to check on our two bunnies. Having just changed their cages a day earlier, I was surprised by the stench. When I proceeded to investigate, I found that Danny, a floppy-eared something or other recently inherited from my daughter’s friend, had a gigantic poop stuck halfway in and halfway out.
Forgive my graphic description, but to fully appreciate the situation, it’s necessary. Okay, this was apparently a combination of some old and some new poop. But it was all connected, and hard as a rock. Are you getting the picture? Now I’d never even touched a rabbit in person until last July when our babysitter bought one for my son. Then we inherited this other one. I had been assured that bunnies were a breeze. Well let’s just say I was praying for a breeze as I tried to pry the poop out of the bunny.
Most of us who have been moms, have at one time or another had the unforgettable experience of dealing with a constipated infant. That is a labor of love in itself. But when I texted the sitter who’d bought us the first bunny to ask for advice and she told me to sit the bunny on a warm washcloth to soften the poop, I realized that I was about to be faced with something I didn’t think I could do. For any of you who have handled bunnies, you probably have guessed that having them sit on a warm washcloth is easier said then done…especially when there is solidified feces as big as a toddler’s fist hanging out the back! But being the latent animal lover that I am, I filled a bowl with warm water and held Danny’s butt in the bowl for a bout ten minutes while gently breaking off pieces. That was followed by another ten or fifteen minutes of holding him under a stream of warm water in the kitchen sink while chipping away at the last of the problem. Dried and dung-free, Danny was happy to curl up in my arms, while I patted myself on the back for coming up with such a great story for my blog.
What are the things you have done that you didn’t think you could do?
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