Bugged by Bugs

Once, when Tucker was about 14 months old, he was standing by our back window fascinated by something.  I figured I’d take the opportunity to finish whatever it was that I needed to do while he was engaged elsewhere.  I think I was cutting up strawberries for lunch or something.  Anyway, I was happy to have a second with a knife to myself without my little explorer underfoot.  Until I saw what he was doing.  He was playing with an almost dead fly.  In hindsight, I can see the draw of studying the fly’s stillness followed by a brief yet frenzied buzz.  I bet it was pretty captivating.  Rather than act like a cool mom and encourage his interest, I freaked out and said “Eww! Don’t touch that, it’s dirty!”

To this day, when my three-year old sees a fly, or a spider, or an ant, or pretty much any insect with the exception of a butterfly, he says “Eww!”  Robert is convinced that I damaged Tucker’s little-boy psyche at a tender age and have prejudiced him against just how fascinating bugs are.  Which makes me feel really lame and un-cool.  I wish it would have crossed my mind to go over to Tucker and explain “We don’t touch them, as flies carry germs, but look how interesting he is!  These are his wings!”  But, I didn’t.  In an attempt to make amends, I purchased a toddler insect book, and thought I’d be able to fake enough believable enthusiasm while pointing out that spiders have eight legs and whatever else little boys are supposed to think is interesting about bugs.  Turns out that I’m not a good enough actress to fool a three-year old because he just points to each picture and says “Eww.”

So it seems to me that it’s Robert’s turn.  He can take Tucker outside and explain what is so neat about spiders and ladybugs and beetles.  He can be responsible for ensuring that Tucker is not a wimpy kid who’s scared of bugs like his silly old mom. I think Robert’s new “bugs are neat” awareness campaign will turn into a good father-son bonding activity.  Plus, think how much fun the two of them will have making fun of me later.  I’m really doing them both a favor.

What actually happened

What would have happened, were I a cooler mom