Some kids (and some of us moms) are spooked by crawly critters, and some kids are fascinated with them. My niece Jaimie was one such child. As a one-year- old, she preferred books about snakes and spiders, but her three-year-old sister Tahnee never shared that love for crawling things.
Their mom, Debbie, told me the girls spent their yard time with Tahnee in the swing and Jaimie hunting for bugs. One day Jaimie discovered a real prize, a large, shiny black beetle with Z-shaped legs. Debbie drew a circle in the dirt and scooted the beetle with a piece of bark to the middle of the circle, careful not to touch it herself. Jaimie spent her play time keeping Mr. Beetle from escaping from the circle.
Debbie alternated between pushing Tahnee in the swing and coming back to help Mr. Beetle stay where Jaimie wanted him. This went on for quite a while until Jaimie squealed and Debbie ran over to her, only to discover Mr. Beetle had finally escaped. Debbie searched everywhere, even digging in the dirt. She was actually happy Mr. Beetle had found his freedom at last.
“I gave up and put Jaimie on my lap to explain that he was gone,” Debbie said. “I almost screamed when I looked into her adorable round little face to see one of those Z-shaped shiny black legs sticking out of her mouth! She had found a way for him not to escape.”
After retrieving Mr. Beetle and letting him scurry away, Debbie held her crying baby girl. “She wanted him back, and I just laughed.”
I don’t know how you feel, but the thought of that bug in the baby’s mouth gives me the heebie jeebies!
This Youtube video is creepy, too, but really interesting. If you have bug-lovin’ kids, they’ll want to watch this. It features the largest spider in the world, a Goliath Tarantula.
I think its defense mechanism is fascinating!
How do you feel about crawly things? How about your kids? Have you had any freaky bug or spider episodes you’d like to share?
Do you have a parenting or grandparenting memory or another story you’d like to share?
If you’re not a parent, memories from your own childhood count, too!
Warning: I might feature your story in a future post.
(Names can be changed to protect the guilty!)
I’d like to thank all those who have shared their stories.
These posts wouldn’t be the same without your input.
If you don’t want to leave a comment but would rather contact me by email, here’s my address: lynkelwoohoo at yahoo dot com.
I don’t mind bugs, but holding it in her mouth is disgusting.
We catch and release beetles and spiders that get into our house. They don’t mean to be there.
I’m not crazy about bugs, but you’re right about that beetle being in her mouth being disgusting! I’m glad she didn’t chew it up and eat it. Eeek!
Excuse me where’s the scary spider warning? 😉 I’ll not sleep tonight lol. That is a fun story. My mum would probably say I ate worms, I don’t believe it.
I’m surprised I didn’t have nightmares last night after watching that video and adding it to the post! Eating worms would give me nightmares, too. If your mum says you ate them, I promise not to believe it! Heehee!
Yeah, I’m with Alex…the mouth thing is just tooooo icky! It’s just our North America prejudices though; many other countries view bugs as a great source of protein. 😉 I’m glad my bandwidth won’t let me watch the bug video. I actually do like bugs, not usually not in my house!
So true, Teresa. I know they sell fried scorpions on a stick in China. I like to try new foods, but I’d probably pass on those. Unless they had teriyaki sauce! JK! I’m so glad your bandwidth let you visit my blog. Hope they increase your bandwidth usage soon. Take care.
Ewwwww!
One of my coworkers majored in forensics, and has no problem with all kinds of gross stuff. But once she wouldn’t get her mail for a week because she saw a spider in the mailbox!
Our boys were both the pick-em-up type from the get-go, especially with snakes. (It helps that we live in a place without venomous snakes, or venomous anythings, really.) One day when our youngest was about four, my husband called us all outside to see a small garter snake that had entangled itself in our jute welcome mat. “Go ahead!” he told Casey. “Pick him up, he won’t hurt you.”
Casey did. And that little snake promptly chomped its little, non-venomous fangs into the meat of Casey’s hand, between thumb and forefinger. And held on.
“Owwww….” said Casey, wringing his besnaked hand in distress. I will never forget the look he gave his Dad: “I will never believe another word you say,” it said.
The little snake did finally let go. And no harmful consequences ensued. It is interesting to note, however, that one of our sons now catches snakes professionally as part of an endangered species protection project…and that son is NOT Casey.
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