Bugs

We looked at bugs today. Mya, Tahlia and I walked around, from tree to tree, looking for different bugs. After about a half hour, Sam joined us.

We found bugs. It started off with a flying ant, then Mya accidently flung dirt in my eyes as she dug for bugs. I wanted to tell her that I thought it was foolish that she was digging randomly for bugs. I wanted to point out how inane it is to use a long stick shoved into the ground at whim in an attempt to discover a bug. Instead I let her know she needs to be careful. After my vision returned, we moved to another tree and found a beetle. A daddy long leg awaited our arrival in the following tree. We discussed their venom and how deadly it is if one is a bug. I could sense the anxiety in them and asked if either of them were bugs. They both replied with a no, and I told them they had nothing to worry about.

Next, we found a black widow. I didn't believe it at first either. There, in a small cobwebbed crevice, her black body with the eery red hour glass shone in the afternoon sun. This one, I told them, is one they should never touch. The three of us crouched in awe. I realize, right now, that I was crouched in awe. I'm not sure what they were feeling. All I was thinking about was how unbelievable it was that I was looking at a black widow and that I needed to keep their hands away from it. Maybe it was awe for them. Probably, though, just mild two and three year old curiosity, which, I like to believe, with how amazing everything in the world is to them as it unfolds, equates to unceasing awe. I hesitated a moment, and decided that it was best for the entire neighborhood, and I called the mothers to see.

Mya gleefully told both mommies that I had found a black widow.

Neither smiled. Mommy wanted to know what the hell I was doing so close to it if it was a black widow. I am pretty sure I saw both of them reach protectively for their older child as they shielded their younger one with their body. There was an agreement to let the other parents know, and we moved on.

A worm, an earwig, a pill bug, a centipede, a millipede, another worm, more earwigs, a small spider all graced our presence. We even found a tiny little snail and a grub. By this time, Sam had joined us. Tahlia touched the worm, the snail and the grub, even while the other children wouldn't. I admired this in her. I don't know if this is how all children are at her age. I know that most children her age do the parallel play thing, but I don't really see that as what she does. She does play with the other children, but she also wants to do her own thing. She wanted to see the insects, but where the other children, even the older Mya, wouldn't touch them, Tahlia still was curious and wanted see if Daddy was right and the grub did feel like jello and the snail really was hard. She was also willing to run off to other trees to see what she might find there while the two other children sat close by me and listened to my rantings on various insects and the vegetation in which the little creaters abide. Later, in the same day, when the other children were happy to jump in the diminishing puddles from yesterday's rain, Tahlia decided to splash her hands in the puddle and make hand prints on the dry concrete nearby. It's like the scooter thing. Near, but not the same.