My house is for the birds

For the past several years, we have had a bird or birds build a nest in the little nest-sized alcove in our entryway. It's about 2 feet in front of our front door and 8 feet up. This seems like a fairly minor fact in the grand scheme of things, but it's actually consumed a lot more of my time than I anticipated. The kids know this happens, so they are always watching to see what's going on. This makes it impossible for Matt and I to "relocate" the bird family. I say that like we would ever get around to doing it even if we could. Therefore, we have come to accept them as a part of life.

Sharing our home with Tweety and Co. has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantage:
Kids learn valuable science lessons about the birth and growth of birds.

Disadvantage:
Kids occasionally try to "help" baby birds by "tossing" things into their nest.

Advantage:
It makes a nice topic of conversation with guests.

Disadvantage:
If they make it in our house after being attacked by the mama bird, who does NOT like intruders when the babies are small. (We have had more than one neighborhood kid try to come over to play, only to have them run screaming from the porch when mama started her routine. She can be kind of scary.) (Not that is is necessarily a bad thing--I'm not so crazy about some of those kids!) (And besides, anyone can have a guard dog--we have a guard bird.)(Though sometimes she can get a little overly dramatic--once I was unloading groceries and she got some friends. I think they were trying for an Alfred Hitchcock moment.)(I was unimpressed. My kids are over it too--when she starts messing with them, they both just yell, "I'm not trying to take your babies, bird!")

Advantage:
The baby birds are SO cute. They have pitifully scrawny necks and squawky little chirps, and every time we turn on the porch light they all poke their heads out as far as they can and chirp up a storm. It's great fun. If you ever drive by our house and see the front porch light strobing, don't be alarmed. We're just playing with the birds.

Disadvantage:
Poop. Lots and lots and LOTS of poop. It's pretty much a blanket over our whole walkway. And until the birds finally leave, there's no point in cleaning it. I live in constant fear that Ethan is going to smear it on his sister, eat it, or bury my cell phone in it. It's only a matter of time.

So for now, we live in delicate balance with the birds. I'm going to have to keep an eye on that mama bird, though. Pretty soon she's going to start popping the children upside the head when she gets mad at them, and that role has already been filled, thank you very much.