Moose Broke!

We went to Sarah's Manna's Christmas recital--La Fiesta de la Posada. At the end of all the singing (which was beautiful), they brought out a donkey-shaped piñata which the Mother of Our Lord and Savior proceeded to whack at with a big colorful stick.

This little piñata was quite resilient. In fact, one of the Three Wise Men took a whack at whacking this papier mache shell dangling from a rope on a pole. Eventually, one of its legs flew off, and then another. But, the gutsy little piñata wouldn't give up its guts.

So, the Wise Man (being wise) took a stab at stabbing the little guy in his underbelly. Finally, the candy poured out and the paper donkey was rendered rended and tossed aside.

By now, everyone in the church was laughing at the site of Three Wise Men dressed as mariachis and Mary Mother of God flailing at a hollow paper husk so ineffectively.

Then, I heard a sad little voice....


"moose broke! moose broke!" :-(


I turned and saw Sarah, a look of disbelief on her face--that someone who was singing so beautifully minutes before had taken to thrashing a colorful little animal (to her, a moose) until it came apart in so many pieces. And, everyone laughed at the sight. It must have been awful for her. She has never seen anything so violent in her two-and-a-half years.

We tried reassuring her that "moose" was okay, that "moose" was like a puzzle--made to come apart & be put back together again, that "moose" had a Band-Aid now, and was happy.


"moose broke" :-(


The next day, she didn't mention "moose" until bathtime. She started drumming on the tub's edge--just playing--and suddenly remembered what had happened the prior evening. She looked at me with those sad, compassionate eyes and said again...

"moose broke" :-(

"No, sweetie. Moose is okay now. He's happy, and is wearing a Wiggles Band-Aid."

"moose broke," she nodded knowingly.

She hasn't mentioned "moose" since then. It appears she wasn't scarred for life from the experience. But, lesson learned: pay more attention to your daughter, Dad, when things are out of the ordinary.