Spider Girl

When I was little we had a "catch and release" bug policy in our house (I think it may have stemmed from a sympathy for Charlotte in Charlotte's Web).  If we saw a bug we would holler for my Dad and he would capture said creature and release it back to the wild.  There were exception, of course.  Poisonous or potentially harmful creatures that happened to find their way inside usually met a different fate.  Anyhow, I've carried on this tradition in our house as we often have grass and house spider visitors along with moths and June bugs (the dogs like to chase these).  And, generally, I like the children to learn about the bugs and how to identify harmful from harmless and how to properly handle and relocate or dispose of them.

So, I didn't think much when the Moogle announced the presence of a spider in her room when she went to get dressed on Saturday.  I was busy changing Buddy's diaper, so I told her something to the effect of "work around it.  I'll be in when I'm done."  A little while later, as I was cleaning up from the diaper change, I was surprised by my daughter entering the room proudly holding an old empty baby food container.  "Look Mommy!  He's still alive!"  Yup, my little one had decided to take matters into her own hands and captured the grass spider all by herself.  He now has a much more appropriate home in the Moogle's Ivy garden.