Rice Babies and Sweet Friend

Background

In 1st Grade there is a very special project in which 1st graders make Rice Babies that weigh as much as the 1st grader did when they were born and are "decorated" to look like the 1st grader. The 1st graders name them, make birth certificates, etc. Oldest Son named his Mitchell and feels very passionate about Mitchell. Well, Mitchell went through some rough times lately (like Youngest Son cutting Mitchell with scissors which is a whole different topic.) We could not take him to Mexico and could not Store 7 lbs of rice. I had not figured out what to do. Oldest Son was not ready to "let Mitchell go."

Sweet Friend

On our last night in town, Sweet Friend gathered Mitchell in a basket and told me she would "foster" him for the year. Then I got this amazing email from Sweet Friend which literally made me cry and brought the biggest smile to Oldest Son's face:

"Mitchell has settled in very well to his new home. We performed a little “minor surgery” – cleaning up his wounds. I put clear nail polish around the “runs” on his face in hopes of preventing further damage. I also removed the duct tape (probably not the best idea) and replaced it with clear packing tape (it looks better, but doesn’t stick very well). The original “hole” was “repaired” with band aids (but those don’t stick very well either). We compared him to Sweet Friend Son's rice baby (he was a heavy 9 lbs. 2 oz) and Sweet Friend Son couldn’t believe how heavy he had been!

I carefully placed him back in his red “Moses” basket on top of a comfy blue baby blanket, and did the same for Sweet Friend Son's baby (in a separate basket) and put them side by side in our bar. (At least for now)! I don’t plan on moving him until you return, so tell Oldest Son that he is very happy in his new home and we will take good care of him until he gets back next summer. We will then give up our “guardianship” and return him to his proper home. No worries! "

Isn't friendship great! For Oldest Son, Mitchell and Me!