They Grow Up So Fast!

“Hey Mom ~ Look! The nest is empty!” Ethan said with a frown. “I’m going to miss having those cute little baby robins to watch and talk to. They grew up way too fast!”

I had to agree with Ethan. They did grow up fast – kinda like my kids are growing up way too fast.

In my last post “Signs of Spring” I shared that we had a mother robin who built her nest right outside Ethan’s bedroom window and she had laid three eggs. Two of the eggs had hatched and the mother robin was patiently waiting for the third egg to hatch.

The next morning we checked and found that the third egg had hatched and there were three hungry baby birds with their mouths open, waiting for their mom to feed them.

The momma robin made endless trips out in the yard and then brought back worms for her little babies.  They didn’t even have their eyes open yet, but they knew when their mom came near and they would wake up and open their mouths in anticipation.

“Wow!” Emma said one morning as she watched the momma robin. “That poor momma bird never gets to sleep! She just feeds those baby birds and sits on the nest but I never see her close her eyes to sleep.”

“Well, that’s kinda like human moms, Emma. When you guys were little I felt a lot like that momma bird. I didn’t get much sleep and sometimes forgot to eat. I was more concerned with taking care of you than sleeping or eating or anything else. It’s what mommies do for their babies!”

“I still want to be a mom someday but it seems like a lot of hard work. Maybe I’d better start resting up now. I think I’m going to need all the sleep I can get now!”

“Yep! It’s  a lot of work. But it’s worth it!” I said and gave her a hug. “Now lets get dressed and get ready before the bus gets here!”

As the days went by the baby birds quickly lost their fuzzy down and it was replaced by feathers as they began to look more and more like their mother. It was only a week after they were born and they already looked twice as big and had opened their eyes.

We saw the father bird a few times but it was mostly the mother that came with fat, juicy worms to fed the growing babies. She would sit on the nest and protect at night and when it was raining or stormy out. However, as the baby robins continued to grow it became harder and harder for the mother bird to sit on the nest.

The next week I noticed that the mother came around less and less. She would still feed the babies but she didn’t sit on the nest during the day at all. Usually at night she would come back, but it was so crowded there really wasn’t room for her in the nest anymore.

The baby birds began to start grooming and preparing their wings to fly. One by one, they starting leaving the safety of the nest to set out and explore the world for themselves.  The first bird flew off and the second bird was not far behind. Emma and Ethan were discussing the birds “flying the coop” and they asked me when the last bird was going to leave.

“I think he is enjoying having the nest all to himself.” I told them. “Kinda like when you were born. Ethan, you were bigger than Emma and after you were born they did a quick ultrasound to check on Emma and they said she was stretching and seemed to be enjoying the extra space.  You hung out for a few more minutes, Emma and then you decided it was time to make your grand entrance!”

“Yep, and I’m older by four whole minutes!” Ethan bragged.

“Oh, boy! Here we go again!” Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. “You always have to bring that up!”

Later that afternoon we came back and found the empty nest. The last baby robin had finished his nap in the nest and decided it was time for his grand entrance out into the wide, wide, world.

“So long little birdies! It’s been fun watching you grow up. I’ll miss having you around!” Ethan said sadly.

“It’s OK.” I reassured him. “I bet if we look hard enough we will still see them now and again.”

And we have. They are all living in our yard and we occasionally see them in the trees or on the power lines. Not as up close as when they were living in the nest, but we still see them and we are still reminded of how we got to watch three little blue eggs become three beautiful robins!

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Running Through the Raindrops … Finding Joy in the Chaos of Raising Kids 

Lori Elliott is the wife of a pastor, holds a full-time job and is a mother of four, including a special needs child. Lori has realized that life is messy and figured out there is no such thing as a “perfect” mother. Although motherhood can be overwhelming, stressful and chaotic, but there are those magical moments when the joy and humor you find make all the craziness seem worthwhile.