We’ve watched Bambi many, many times but this morning was different.  The bug wanted to know what happened to Bambi’s mother.  How do I explain death to a three year old?  I’m not really one to dance around the subject and so maybe I’m setting myself up for a lot of “Why’s?” but I’d rather just be honest.

So, I did my best.  All the while I was explaining, I kept in the back of my mind that I come from a family of hunters and one day, Hailey will realize that.  I didn’t make “hunters” sound like “bad people”.  I merely told her that people go out and hunt animals and that it’s kind of a sport for them.  I told her that if they didn’t, there would be too many deer.  I am not a fan of hunting but I do know that some states (including my own home state of PA) have a huge population of deer.  Sadly enough, the evidence is often times all over the roads.

After a ton of “Why’s?”, she decided that she would be a hero and stop the hunters from shooting the deer.  Her solution was to become Rudolph and flash the hunters away with her red nose.  I would be her deer mommy and she would protect me from the hunters.  All the while she was explaining to me what she would do to protect me and the rest of the deer, I could her her voice quivering.  It was hard for me not to get emotional too.  I know that she is starting to understand “life”.  As much as I want to protect her from “the hunters”, I know that sooner or later, she is going to see that the circle of life isn’t always roses.

I have a feeling that this will be the first of many discussions about what happened to Bambi’s mother.