Queen Latifah narrates and the personification of the polar bears, walruses and other creatures. My kids had some trouble with the animals eating animals (that's the way it is...) because people are supposed to be nice to people.
At lunch we were talking about the movie some more and Princess said that it was sad when the mother bear sent her daughter away. The movie follows the female bear Nanu, from crawling out of the birthing cave to wondering if she'll survive in the end (I took the kids for the animal/science exposure... not the "The polar ice caps will all melt if we don't all recycle everything and buy a hybrid car" theme that they didn't pick up on since they probably don't even comprehend the existence of a polar ice cap) Food is scarce and "earlier than normal" Nanu's mother scares her away so that her mother and she are not competing for the same limited resources in the same area.
"Why would a mother send her child away?" was the question, along with "Do mother's send them away?" I gave the guarantee that I wouldn't send them away, but animals often do that if there isn't enough food. "Do people do that?" was another question around the table. "Yes, sometimes people do that, not because of food but for other reasons."
Then Princess says "Yes, mothers do that. Our mom sent us away." Matter of fact, a revelation.
And that comment stuck with me. Nanu's mother by instinct knew that two bears couldn't hunt in that same area, the resources were limited and sent her cub away. I doubt that the mother bear thought about having to "send her daughter away earlier than normal" or "hoped that she'd be all right" or regretted probably "never seeing her again" or whatever the exact words were. But there weren't enough resources to share. They'd both starve to death (according to the movie) competing for the same resources on the same land, so Momma Bear growled and threatened Nanu away.
Although it's hard to fathom here in my house in suburban U.S. the situation my children and millions of other children live in within the borders of Ethiopia and other nations, it seems that their mother was faced with a similar scenario. So many times comfortable citizens of the U.S. lament "How could a parent give them up?" when discussing an adoption plan. But the insight for me is poignant. What if you're faced with the fact that your children can not survive if they stay with you - that no matter what you do the resources you have to share are not enough to keep them healthy - or even alive? What if you are faced with the knowledge that the best you can do is not enough, can not be enough to see them to adulthood? Faced with the choice between your children wasting away or the hope that there are more resources that they can utilize elsewhere - where they could find what they need to thrive not just subsist or worse.... What choice do you choose?
As scary as the unknown is - sometimes a parent may be faced with the fact that no matter what, they can't provide. The known is something that is more awful than sending your children away from you.
I can not begin to imagine what life is like for my children's first mother. I have no idea what it feels like for her on a day to day basis,
nor what her hopes and dreams are for her children here other than to grow up and learn healthy and strong. Or maybe the foremost hope is just that they would LIVE. She had to make a terrible decision because of the terrible situation of her life. I pray for her and for wisdom and strength in parenting the children she entrusted to us.I leave you with the photo for Mammie (the great-grandmother) of the 5 great-grandchildren (she has a series of photos of the 5 grandchildren so this is the next part of the series) It's the best we took - perhaps my brother has a better one. Hopefully he doesn't mind me publishing his baby online either... I'll ask him.
