A few weeks ago, we had just come home from the river, unpacked our things, and were grabbing showers before our Sunday night tradition of nachos, cheese, and ice cream in the living room while watching our favorite shows. Kenzy came running inside, all excited.
“Mommmmmmaaaaa!! Look what I found!” she exclaimed.
She had this bright green inchworm crawling up her tiny finger. She looked at it like she had never seen an inchworm before.
“Wow! Well, would ya look at that!” I said.
“I am going to name it Pinky,” Kenzy replied.
I told her I thought it was a great name as I continued to shred cheese for nachos before I showered. Pinky was now crawling up her shirt, and Kenzy was smiling ear to ear.
I grabbed a nice hot shower, and when I was done, I came out into the living room to see if everything was about ready for dinner.
Chris and I tag team it on Sunday. I get everything ready while he showers, then I get in, and he heats everything up. It works out beautifully.
Kenzy sets up our TV trays while Ty gets drinks. Sunday nights are truly a team effort.
But when I walked out into the living room this particular Sunday, Kenzy was sobbing on the couch.
“Kenz honey, what’s wrong!?” I asked as I sat down by her on the couch.
Chris looked at me and said, “Oh boy! Here we go!”
Kenzy wiped the tears from her cheeks and said, “I lost PINNKKKKYYYY!”
“Oh no!! How did you lose him?” I asked.
“I laid him on top of our trash can for one minute so I could get the trays out, and when I came back, Pinky was gone!” she cried. Our trash is in a wooden cabinet that opens up. I decorated the flat part of the top where she put him.
I asked her if she had looked on the outside and inside of the trash can. Chris said they had looked all over and found nothing. I walked out to look for it, and Pinky was nowhere to be found.
The waterworks started back up again.
“Baby, listen, Pinky is safer in the house tonight than outside. Think of everything outside he is safe from. Birdies can’t eat him. He can’t get rained on and think how much cooler it will be inside tonight. He is just exploring. I bet any money when you wake up tomorrow; we will find him on the ceiling or crawling up the wall. Don’t fret, OK?” I was trying to make her feel better.
“Yea, but Momma, what if Daddy burns papers and Pinky gets all burned up!?”
I told her that Daddy was not burning papers tonight so as not to fret.
The nachos were melted and ready, and the TV show was ready. We all went out to enjoy some family time together. About twenty minutes later, I had to go to the kitchen to grab something. There was Pinky climbing up the wall right above the trash can.
“Kenzy Mae! I found Pinky!” I yelled.
She came running out into the kitchen just so excited, yelling, “Pinkyyyyy!” with the biggest smile on her face.
Now, here comes the good part.
I told her before bed that she needed to put pinky back outside. (Yea. You know where this is going.)
“But Momma, you said that birds will eat him!”
“I did say that, didn’t I? Well, listen, most birdies are asleep right now, but if we go outside and you put him somewhere super safe where he is protected from weather and predators, he will be just fine!” I told her.
That night, Kenzy put Pinky outside where he belonged, and she placed a little leaf over top of him to keep him “safe and warm.”
This absolutely melted my heart. Kenzy has the biggest heart for animals. From big to small, she loves them all. (Except daddy long legs, just like her mother.) Her heart is so big for animals. They bring the biggest smile to her face.
No joke, she caught a chipmunk years ago, and this chipmunk played with her all afternoon! She is like a real-life Disney princess with animals, I swear.
But you know why I am sharing this? One, because I know you guys enjoy stories like this, but even more important is this.
A few weeks ago, Trump was shot at. Now listen, I DO NOT get into politics. But when I thought back to my ten-year-old daughter who sobbed her little heart out because she was worried about the teeniest, tiniest little inchworm, it really made me appreciate this story even more. She was crying because she didn’t want this little inchworm to die. She had herself just so worked up! Then you have people upset because another human missed being killed by a bullet by what!? Millimeters? I don’t give a crap if you are a Democrat, Republican, Liberal, or don’t care for any of them. If you wish for another human to be dead, you are what is wrong with this world. It hurt my heart to see so many wishing him dead on social media. Like, what is wrong with people!? You shouldn’t wish that on anyone: Trump, Biden, or your worst enemy. You know what we need to do? Be more like a child’s heart. What if we all loved and cared for the tiniest creature like Kenzy did? The world would surely be a more beautiful place.
Crispy Baked Chicken
Ingredients:
• 2 lbs. chicken tenders or 4 large chicken breasts
• 2 sleeves Ritz crackers
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3 cups cheddar cheese, grated
Directions:
Crush crackers. If using chicken breasts and not tenders, cut each chicken breast into 3 large pieces. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the salt and pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk and then the cheese. Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers. Then press the cheesy coated chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in.
Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.
