Lost in Bugs

Today, on my buffet, next to an old photo of the boys and I on a long ago Mother's Day, sits a container of bugs.

Yes, bugs.

While this may be common place to my friend Mary who has a daughter who would be able to name all the bugs by their proper names and have an entire habitat set up for them in a blink, even with my boys this is not common.

Usually, the bugs and critters stay outside.  But some insane creative teacher has decided that the students should begin a bug collection.  S2 and his friends are taking this very seriously.

He assures me the bugs stay in the container and never ever could get out.  I have not dared to ask what the container holds.  But today, as we drove home in the suburban....I'll pause for you to realize how confined a suburban is....he opened the lid.  "The spider needs a little air," he explained to S4.

Spider?

Later, as I looked on my computer all curled up in our lazy boy chair luxiously drinking coffee, a large black spider scurried across our carpet.

My cat ate it.

I will not tell this to S2.  

I am not sure just what is expected of the kids in this project.  I know I keep getting asked, "Mama, what's this bug?' as he prepares to drop it in the container.  I never can concentrate on it long enough to tell him.  

"A bug....I don't know," is all I get out.

The song "My favorite kind of bugs are DEAD" by Buck Howdy is now running constantly through my head.

But this....this really has me worried.

As S2 ran off to class this morning - wait, he ran to the door, he wasn't actually running in school (in case any teacher may happen to read this) - I stopped to give S1 his hug and let him know we were having spaghetti for dinner tonight.

"Uh, Mama, I thought you should know...S2 is planning on bringing a snake to school."

"What? When?"

"He's going to check with his teacher today."

"He hasn't told me."

"I'm not sure he was going to."

"Ummm, uh, thanks for the heads up," I stammered.

"I figured you would want to know," he shrugged as he meticulously put away his homework and lunch.

What's worse - if there could be a worse - is that they caught ANOTHER snake today.  That makes TWO snakes living in the water tank turned natural habitat outside my dining room window.  One for them, one for the school.

Sigh.

If a snake gets a ride to school, I guarantee you, dear readers, I will be blogging about it.  But for my sake (and sanity) I truly hope it doesn't happen.