Our Easter Surprise

A few days before Easter, Addy and I were laying down for a nap when the doorbell rang. Since Cole and Emily were not home, I decided to ignore it until I got up. An hour or so later, I opened the front door to see if someone had dropped off a package or flyer as often happens, and much to my surprise there was a chirping box on the porch. Startled, I slammed the door and walked away, not wanting to acknowledge what I had seen!! I spent the next 30 minutes debating what I was going to do. None of the kids had seen or heard the chirping box, so I could get rid of it without any crying children. However, a part of me was feeling bad about the thought of just getting rid of them. (I don't know if I was going to feel bad for the kids not getting to see them or for the chicks!) I had to leave shortly after that to pick Emily up from play group, so I decided to hide them until I made a decision about their fate. In the meantime, I sent several not very nice texts to 2 parties that I suspected in the doorbell ditching of the box of chicks!
When I got home from picking Emily up, much to my dismay, I saw Cole and his almost cousin standing over a box. Apparently my text had sent Brock scurrying over to help us get the chicks settled. (And as you can imagine, once Cole and Brock started looking for the chicks, it wasn't hard to find them. They are a little too noisy to play hide-and-seek with!) They had already filled the box with paper, water, and some of the chick food that the doorbell ditchers had so kindly left for us. They had also given them names. The all black one they called Smokey and the one with grey on it, they called Chirpy.
At that point, I knew I was in big trouble and that getting rid of them quietly was not going to be an option. It was love at first sight for all of my kids!!
At that point, I conceded that they could keep them for Easter weekend, but that we were getting rid of them after that. The kids were of course ecstatic and ignored the part about getting rid of them quickly!
It did not take long to realize that they were going to need a bigger box than was initially used, and a heating pad that Aunt Jenny so willingly provided. (I think her conscience was getting the best of her!) But by the end of the day, they were nicely situated in a large box in the garage.
However, after the kids went to bed, my husband informed me that it was too cold in the garage and the chicks were going to have to come inside for the night! After a few minutes of discussion, I conceded to let them come in as long as they stayed in a basement room with the door shut so I didn't have to hear them chirping all night long. Their stay in the basement lasted for one night, until I was then informed that the basement was too cold for them and they were going to have to come upstairs. So, our upstairs playroom became the chicks' new place of residence! (I learned something very important about my husband during this time and thus we will never have a pet! He gets very attached and very concerned about little animals far too quickly. After checking on the kids in their beds, part of his nightly routine became going and talking to, holding, and tucking the chicks in for the night as well!)
Because we had such cold weather for so long, the chicks spent a lot time in the house (smelling it up and making way too much noise!) But when the sun was out, we did try to take the chicks out for a little bit of fresh air.
The kids and their friends just loved it. (Hence the reason the chicks made it past the week after Easter!)
How can you resist this face!
Addy and Emily loved to hold the chicks. Thankfully they developed different favorites. Addy loved Chirpy and Emily's favorite was Smokey. (Cole liked them at first also, until one of the chicks pooped on his hand. After that, he was less eager to hold them!) Addy tried very hard to hold them carefully and mostly did a good job. A few times, Chirpy really lived up to his name though and I had to remind her to be a little softer.
They also really loved to have the chicks just sit on their laps. The chicks actually did this quite well. I think they figured sitting on the lap was better than being "nicely" held!
The chicks grew quickly under the watchful eyes of my children. About every 15-30 minutes, one of my children would go check on the chicks and come back and report what they were doing. I had to start planning an extra 10 minutes before we went anywhere so they could check on the chicks and tell them goodbye before we left. We also had to do the same thing at bedtime. I'm pretty sure these were the most watched over chicks in a long time!
After we had the chicks for about 3 weeks, Addy, after making one of her regular checks, came rushing out of the playroom yelling that Chirpy was out of the box. I rushed in to see what she was talking about and came across this scene.
At this point, I realized that the chicks had outgrown our little box and it was time to move them along. They needed a nice home where they could stretch their wings and grow nice and big. It took another week before we found a suitable home for them. After about a month of raising them, we took them to live on a nice farm.
While I did not become a lover of the chicks, I did enjoy seeing the joy on my children's faces as they played with and took care of them. All of them were very concerned about the chicks, and did a great job checking on them and making sure they had food and water, They loved to hold them, talk to them, and play with them. I'm sure they will show a similar love for their new sibling. So in the end, the smell and the noise were probably worth the experience that they had and the joy that they got from their temporary pets!
(However, at some point, revenge will be taken on the doorbell ditchers!!)