A Lesson from a Bull

Last week in Molly's class, I was reading one-on-one with a little girl. We were reading a nonfiction book about cows, and cattle and bulls. She learned that all cows are girls. She learned that there are dairy cows and beef cattle. She learned that bulls are dangerous. I asked her if she had ever heard of The Story of Ferdinand. She had not. I told her it was a story about a bull in Spain. I told her about bull fighting. I told her about Ferdinand. Ferdinand was not like all the other bulls. He didn't like to run and jump and butt heads with all the other little bulls. He just liked to sit quietly and smell the flowers. One day, men came to watch the bulls to find the fiercest ones to bring to Madrid for bull fighting. At that moment Ferdinand got stung by a bee. Well, Ferdinand went crazy and the men decided to take him to Madrid. When Ferdinand got in the middle of the ring he saw all the ladies with their beautiful flowers and he sat down quietly and smelled. "He wouldn't fight and be fierce no matter what they did. He just sat and smelled."


Studies say that the sense of smell elicits more memories than any other sense. More than sight. More than sound. I believe it. I vividly remember the morning when Shannon was six years old and I found her in Molly's crib with her. There was a familiar odor but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. 


"Shannon, whatcha doing?" I asked.


"I thought I would help you out by washing Molly's hair," Shannon responded. 


"That's great, but you need to wait for Mommy, and we usually do that in the bathtub."


I still couldn't figure out this familiar smell...and then I did!!!


"Shannon, what are you putting in her hair?"


And there it was, NAIR HAIR REMOVER!!!!


I grabbed Molly so fast.  I threw her in the tub and nearly drowned her as I tried to get every last drop of Nair out of my baby girl's hair. 


Now, if Molly was one of those little baldy babies, it wouldn't of really mattered. But this is what Molly looked like a few days after coming home from the hospital.

It all turned out fine. Shannon must not of used enough and I must have rinsed it out in time because this is Molly at her one year picture. 

There are so many good smells at this time of year. Christmas trees, goodies baking in the oven, candles burning. 


The last line of Ferdinand is, "And for all I know he is sitting there still, under his favorite cork tree, smelling the flowers just quietly. He is very happy."


Today I will remember to be quiet and sit still for a moment to smell Christmas in my house.