Bugs

Children pick up social and behavioral cues from everyone they encounter. With it being summer, all the critters have come out. One of Babycake's best friends however is TERRIFIED of all bugs- large, small, friendly, scary. I believe that because Babycake looks up to her friend so much she has suddenly developed this fear as well, as if out of obligation. (sigh)

So how are we dealing with this sudden and frankly annoying fear of all things creepy crawly? We went to the library! We got lots of books on all the basic bugs we encounter and are reading, crafting, and learning about these creatures. What better way to conquer a fear than to conquer ignorance and learn there is nothing to fear at all?

We read a few books about flies, butterflies, and bugs. She enjoys reading so she liked this and was interested in all the different kinds of creepy crawlies there are. We also have been having a lot of rain this summer, so every time we go outside we find rained out worms. She doesn't like to touch them, but she enjoys finding them and looking at them. So after a couple days of reading, and a lot of rain, we made some worms because at this point we are no longer afraid of worms. (small victories people)

As you can see we have "normal" looking worms... all worms have two eyes duh... and "alien" worms that have one large googelie eye. These were super easy, and Babycake spent hours coming back to make more. All we used were pipe cleaners cut in half, cheerios, and google eyes.

I also happen to frequent the DollarTree and found a great little bug house. We've spent many evenings catching fireflies to put in it. We do let the fireflies out before going in for bed, which was a hard lesson for Babycake to learn our first night since she didn't believe us that the fireflies would be back the next night to play. We have also housed a caterpillar in our little bug house for about a week (and it lived! yay!!).

Finally, Babycake is also learning that bugs outside get to live, where as the bugs inside are executed. When Babycake finds any bug, pretty much anywhere, she rushes to let us know about it and proclaims we must kill it. However, if we are with her and pointing out bugs, she's interested and unafraid. Babycake and I were out a few days ago... one of the rare days it wasn't raining...  and I was able to point out flies, ants, two different types of spiders, and lots of grasshoppers all in the grass of our backyard. She was very excited to see all the different creatures and explore. I was just happy she wasn't running away crying.

After a few weeks of this intentional bug discussion and discovery in our home we've made great progress. Some days we like bugs, others we don't. Some days she can stomp on an ant in the house on her own, but most of the time she runs to Mamma or Daddy. This may just be a thing we'll have to go through the next few summers. (I have my fingers crossed that we don't)