The turtle

I've heard about some kids and their ingrained sense of empathy but had never experienced it first-hand. Last week my sweet 3 year old showed me.

We went to the Sea Turtle Center where they have a turtle hospital to care for all kinds of turtles, not just sea turtles. We walked through the exhibit first but by the time we got back to the hospital part, my daughter was bored. I was glad to get to the other building because I knew she'd like to see the turtles. The hospital part is in the back in a separate building because the turtles are each in their own pool. On the "observation deck," there was information about each turtle: what their name was, what was wrong with them, how long they'd been there, where they were found.... all the pertinent information. I'm walking around, telling my daughter about each one and then we come to a turtle (**she thinks its' name Pumpkin, more on in a minute) who is missing a flipper, so sad. I think that's the end of it. We finish reading about all the turtles and head out. And for the record, this center also had some Terps. ;)

Later that day, we were back at the campsite and she is talking to my husband. She tells him that she wants to do something for Pumpkin. She remembered that it is missing a leg and wanted to help it feel better. She wants to send Pumpkin one of her stuffed animals and a note. Awwwww. So sweet. It still makes me tear up a little. She wanted to help poor Pumpkin because it wasn't feeling well.

She hasn't forgotten so I need to get off my butt and get up in the attic to find a stuffed animal to send to Pumpkin.

**The turtle with the missing flipper wasn't actually named Pumpkin but Pumpkin and the mystery turtle were in tanks right next to each other. I think the turtle's name was Vivienne or something like that. She really only remembers Pumpkin which is okay too. We know which turtle she meant because she mentioned the one missing a leg several times.