Boys & their bugs

 I had a lovely day with my nephs
(one of the many names I call my nephews)
this past week.

J putting flowers in his teeth

We stopped by my house where they "helped" me carry water bottles in from the car.

During this short stop,
J happened upon a snail
which he picked up
& proceeded to carry with him.....everywhere.

Snail, J & a roly-poly

He talked to me about how his mom pays him money to collect the snails at his house,
& that he has to take them to a certain place to dump them.

I told him that he could carry it with him to the empty lot behind my place
& dump this particular friend there.

 

J trying to show off the roly-poly

He then began to explain that his mom lets him keep some of the snails he finds
& that he really wanted to keep this particular one because
"he really likes me".

A boy & his bug

 I just couldn't break up this sweet friendship
(yet)
 so I asked Jude if he wanted to take his snail friend to the park with us.

He wanted to.


He talked almost the whole way about how his snail was really friendly
& obviously liked him a lot.

Frankly, I have to agree.

That little snail did not retreat into his shell once, the whole time Jude had him.

He slithered all over J's hand
& tolerated being switched between hands because of the slime
& needing to hold hands to cross the street.

He did not retreat while we (E & I) played on the play structure
& J sat next to him on the picnic table,
gently picking him up when it looked like he was getting too close to the edge of the table.

He did not retreat when I asked J if he thought his snail friend would like some water.

J said he thought he would,
so I carefully poured a tempting snail pond near enough for said snail to drink
or absorb
or whatever they do with water.

And whatever they do, he did.

He seemed quite happy in his puddle of fun on the picnic table,
so we poured some more.

He did not retreat when we stopped in a patch of grass to watch a construction worker drive a back hoe.

Never has construction on a public restroom been so intriguing

He did not retreat as J dutifully held his slimy & curious friend on the trek back.

E, J, me

I assumed we would leave this new friend in the back lot
like we had talked about earlier.

I was wrong.

J began to get upset when I mentioned this
& when it became clear to J that this new sluggish friend
was not traveling in the car with us back to J's home.

I began to get upset when J started to dance in frustration,
(which sometimes can be a wind up to a break down).


It was so sweet.

This passionate & tender boy,
making friends so quickly,
with something so strange.

(Yes, I know I am probably making it harder for his parents
to teach him right & wrong & not to manipulate people
& that just cause you are one of the 7 cutest wonders of the world,
you do not always get your own way.)

But seriously, this boy loves bugs!

So, like all whipped aunties, I compromised.

We found an empty planting pot and put some leaves in it.

I drew the line at putting a make shift lid on it to keep J's friend "safe"
(read trapped)
I promised I would keep an eye on him and let J know how he did.

The poor little snail was tuckered out & slept
(I am assuming this as I did not hear him snoring,
nor did I poke him to see if he was alive)
in his shell in his guest pot for two days.

On my way to work on Monday,
he was gone,
but there were 11 snails of all different sizes sliming their way across my sidewalk.

I let J know his friend went back home
because he missed his friends & family.

#1 of the 7 cutest wonders of my world

#5 of the 7 cutest wonders of my world

It's amazing the things I will tolerate
because someone little & precious befriends it!