Last in the Rat Race

Bug Obsession #3 for the summer: Lightening Bugs.

(#1 caterpillars – they have since transformed into moths
#2 earth worms – laying low now that the vegetable garden is in)

At the pool two weeks ago, Kate made friends with some other kids over a shared interest in bugs. They had the net and gear with them, so Kate latched on and went on a “hunt” around the pool. They found “lightening bugs.” I think these were actually cheap imitations as I couldn’t see any flashers from where I was standing. Nevertheless, the kids were hooked.

Last weekend, out on the patio at Norwood, the lightening bugs reappeared. The real deal this time and the kids were off to the practice green to catch all they could keep. (which, thankfully, isn’t much b/c the little buggers know just how to wiggle out of that little hole at the end of your fist… right along your pinkie finger)

Our backyard has also been alive with lightening bugs in the evening and Kate is making sure to catch her quota. Since Paddi destroyed Kate’s last bug catcher, I dug out an old jar for her. Good in that it’s big enough to keep enough O2 to allow the bugs to live. Bad in that it’s glass. (this won’t end well)

Tuesday night, Kate caught a handful – a family she said – and tucked them in her jar. Building on the crafty parenting knowledge gleened from flipping through Parents Magazine once this year, I suggested she put the jar in her room that night and sleep by the light of the fireflies. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

The bugs didn’t flash. One flashed, one time. That was it. I think they were pissed that they were being held captive and decided to flip us off in the only way they knew how. Equally unimpressed, Kate agreed to release the family the next morning.

Wednesday morning, I took Paddi for a little run and returned to find Kate in the back yard.

It’s 6:30 am and she has donned her “backyard boots.” Still in her pjs, she’s ready to let her little captives fly.

I didn’t notice it at the time, but it appears that one of the fireflies has Stockholm syndrome.

Putting Kate to bed the other night, she noticed my earrings.

“What are these?” she asks as shes fiddling with my ears.

“These are the earrings your daddy gave me when you were born.” (My first diamond studs. Ever. Pays to have friends “in jewelry.” Thanks Diane!)

“Hm…” she said and moved on to another topic.

Minutes later, sure she was ready to nod off, I leaned over “Katie, Kate, I sure do love you.”

She reached up, ran her little fingers over my ears again, “Hm…I sure do love these earrings…”

You’re all aware of Kate’s annual caterpillar fascination… Yesterday we discovered a simple truth:

One caterpillar = interesting, perhaps even a little cute & charming

20 caterpillars in a bug-catcher = the stuff of nightmares and Edgar Allen Poe stories

Yick.

Spring has sprung and Kate couldn’t be more excited. Last spring, our kid discovered all of the joys that come with finding caterpillars IN HER OWN BACKYARD! Talk about never-ending thrills. They’re on the patio bricks, the table, the chairs, the side of the house, the light fixtures. Everywhere.

The first one arrived last weekend.

God Bless Kate’s Aunt G. She has more than enough going on in her own life, yet she remembers everyone’s birthdays. Granted the package may arrive a little late, but I’m always of a mind that if it’s late, then it’s remembered more than the gifts that arrive en masse that day.

You can imagine Kate’s delight when she saw the ginormous box that I brought home from work last week. (thank goodness I’m not taking the train anymore!) We popped open the box, sifted through the 3 cubic tons of packing peanuts and found these treasures.

I often forget just how magical an umbrella can be to a young child. G didn’t.

May be a little hard to see, but his blue fuzz is Kate’s new sock puppet. We assembled it together last night and spent the next hour trying to keep it out of the dogs mouth. (thank goodness there are two other puppets awaiting assembly as well as a multitude of additional parts and pieces!

Kate and I sat down to dinner to “eat like a proper family” last night.

(as an aside, she prefers to eat in front of the tv, a luxury generally reserved for Friday’s pizza-and-a-movie night. so i like to remind her that we need to eat at a table, without tv, like a proper family. she picked up on that)

Mike was working late, so it was just the two of us.

Or so I thought.

Usually, we’re a “no toys at the table” fam, too, but whatever… she played a little and managed to down a whole taco in between.

Then, it was their turn to eat.

Yikes. Maybe letting her watch Jurassic Park was a bad idea…

For anyone who has experienced the “joy” of winter in STL, you’ll know the lunacy it so easily inspires. Some take the winter laying down (MRA spent most weekends on our bed, in front of the tv, playing Spider on the PC). Some, like yours truly, get cabin fever.

In my quest to rid myself of the need to get out and explore, Kate and I visited almost every STL kids attraction this snowy season. From the Magic House (dear god that place is huge. and packed with people. they must print $ there) to the City Museum (even Kate was a little scared of some of the treats there – she DOES have some fear after all). We saw it all. Many days, after shelling out untold bucks to get in, we went back to the Science Center. It had been a year since our last visit and I figured it may “stick” better now that she was a little older. As it happens, much of the cool stuff there is still too sophisticated for a 3 year old, but there were a couple of things – a couple of BIG things – that did “stick.

Mommy, mommy! A T-REX!

Dino Hunter