Jiminy Cricket! Guess who Loves Bugs?

Sugar and Spice

and everything Nice,

That's what little Girls are made of...

Some girls like dolls and cute furry teddy bears...

Some girls like frilly lace dresses, pink tutus and dainty ballet shoes...

Some girls like large satin bows and long, curly silk ribbons...

My daughter likes all of the above and one other thing in particular. Something that would send every other little girl into a ditzy, screaming frenzy: BUGS. Not the cute, stuffed multicolored caterpillar they sell at F.A.O. Schwartz. She's interested in the real, creepy crawly ones with the twitching antennae and coarse spindly legs! I thought it was just a fluke that she would borrow an Insects book from the school library a month ago. I tried to humor her by going through each page with her.  It even had a picture of a Philippine beetle in it.   And then she borrowed the same book three weeks in a row! So every night, instead of the usual Princess-related bedtime story, were looking at pictures of... ...bugs (ugh!). She's just obsessed with trying to remember their scientific names, where they live, what they do, what their different body parts are called, do they bite and kill people??

Rhinocerus beetle pic: http://www.pbase.com/mr2c280/image/34744545

Er... What is the higher purpose of a bug's life? Aside from being bird feed? What's so particularly interesting about them? Aside from the fact that a giant water bug makes a "popping" sound when stepped on? (accidentally, of course). What does the Philippine ( Oryctes rhinocerus) beetle do? Aside from being a serious pest to the coconut palm trees - killing them and then breeding in its dead, rotting trunk? Beats me. What should I say to S.? "Stop bugging me with all these questions?". Well, at least we both learned an awesome stat: This particular beetle can support up to 850 times its own weight on its back. That would be the same as a man carrying 76 family-sized cars around on his back!

Then as I was browsing through the internet, VOILA!! I stumbled upon the perfect solution to my dilemma. Finally, a way to get her off my back! Get her a Lady Bug Land kit, of course! These guys from this site will mail you a kit with an enclosed certificate for 15-20 ladybug larvaes. This cool contraption has a magnifying glass on the top which allows the child to observe the larvaes as they gradually transform into ladybugs! You can feed them, make their "nest" moist... etc. and then release them to a garden once they become adult ladybugs. Her teacher was very happy when I offered to give it to the class as their "Spring Science Project". What she didn't know was that she was doing me the big favor!

LINK: http://naturepavilion.com/livekits.htm

As I was browsing through the site, I also found out that they were selling frog kits as well, for.. $29.95! As advertised, a few "100% captive-bred leopard frog tadpoles" are included with the kit. Holy shit! What kind of exotic froggy breed is that? And why didn't I think of this idea when I was kid? I would had happily sloshed around the kangkong swamps near our house, catching tadpoles to sell
. Included in my frog kit would be 30 "100% wild-bred lopsided crooked-tailed criss-cross Asian tadpoles" for half the price!

Dang, I would have been croaking rich by now!

*sigh* I can dream, can't I?