Bad squirrel!

When Tasha turned 3 years old we spent some of her birthday money on a zoo membership. It was a place that she always wanted to go to and a fun place to spend the morning with friends. The first trip was just her and I and it turned into quite a memorable one. The animals were fun, it was pleasant April weather, and we got to pet some animals. I had planned for a long day, so we sat down to a nice picnic lunch over by the petting zoo. That is where the true story begins...

We sat down at one of those wooden tables with the giant spool seats. We spread out our lunch: some sort of fruit, probably grapes; an avocado sandwich for me; and a PB&J for Tasha, cut into 4 pieces. I put 2 of the pieces of sandwich out in front of Tasha, then put the lid on the container that held the 2 remaining pieces. If you know Tasha, then you know that food doesn't mean much to her. She will take it or leave it, unless she's really, really hungry. We chatted and ate, then the most bizarre thing happened. Within about 10 seconds a squirrel jumped up on the table, eyed Tasha's sandwich, ran over, took it, jumped off the table and started eating it on the ground. We watched this happen in what I thought was shocked amusement, but found out that it was shocked horror from my 3 year old's perspective. It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened, then I started to chuckle. I looked at Tasha and she was not happy. Not amused. Not even the slightest bit aware that something extraordinary had just happened. To say that Tasha was upset would be an understatement, she was crying and still gripping the other piece of her sandwich. It took quite a bit to get her to calm down.

Is this the funniest thing that you've ever heard? A hungry squirrel swiping a little girl's sandwich right before her eyes? It's not like we left it sitting out and it came while we were gone. It was crazy, and hilarious. I had to try so hard not to laugh because Tasha was truly distraught. By the time we had gotten home, taken a nap, and picked up Kyra from school she was a little bit calmer and was capable of retelling the story to her sister. She also told Bill when he got home from work. I had to laugh with Kyra and Bill away from Tasha because to her this was no joking matter. She had been wronged by a squirrel and I'm pretty sure she was plotting revenge.

So why post this over a year later? Well, the subject came up at dinner this evening. Bill and I started chuckling and Kyra said, "oh yeah, when the squirrel swiped Tasha's sandwich". We were all smiling as we turned to Tasha to see if she remembered. Oh yeah, she remembered. Her face had gone sour, eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed, and her mouth was all tight. She is not happy with squirrels and now she has even more ammunition on them. We have the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and she has watched those fiendish little rats scoop up Veruca 'cuz she's a bad nut. Squirrels are bad news, and if you don't believe me, just ask Tasha.