This information was delivered with heart-piercing eye contact. The message behind my daughter's observation registered as intended.
Someone is still upset about the groundhog.
Apparently, I wasn't persuasive enough in my contrition about running over the poor little guy when he made the bad decision to lumber across Rt. 19 during rush hour traffic several months ago. Wrecking our car that day to save a groundhog's life would have made me a hero in the eyes of my youngest child. Avoiding an accident at the expense of a groundhog's demise, however, put me in league with Cruella De Vil. Raising a child with strong convictions brings an interesting dimension to mothering.