Friday, February 3, 2012

Mother Bears

Matt has an interesting professor at school. Yesterday during class, she somehow got on the topic of mothering. It was a wonderful lecture, and Matt wrote down everything she had to say...

"Maybe we are the same as bears when it all comes down to it," his professor began. "A mother has to teach her child certain survival skills, just as a mother bear would have to teach her cub survival skills. And also, a mother has to teach her child how to behave in public. It's probably the same with bears too." Matt's ears perked up at this.

"In bear society, I bet the mothers have to teach their cubs that when they are playing, it's okay to wrestle and claw a little. But biting a chunk of fur out of another bear is not socially acceptable. It's the same with mom's. We have to teach our kids that it's not appropriate to hit or bite other children. They can wrestle and frolick all they want, just not bite." Matt was very intrigued by the path the lecture was taking.

"Also mom's have to be firm and teach their children how to take care of themselves. They teach their kids to stay away from strangers and to run away from bullies. And I bet in bear world, a mother bear tells her cub that if they ever encounter a bigger bear, they need to run away as well. That or else stand really big and hope for the best..." Matt's professor kind of sank into a stupor of thought at this point, and her eyes grew real wide before she continued on.

"Come to think of it, it's a good thing I'm not a bear mother, because I have a feeling that all my cubs would be dead..."

©Matt Jaggi, February 2012

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