66. Roly Poly

I came home today to find the girls playing with roly poly bugs (otherwise known as sow bugs or pill bugs). They run screaming from flies and spiders, but there is something about roly poly bugs that kids love. The first time Katie held one she was about 2 years old at preschool. We ended up with at least different ten different containers filled with them. Over the next couple of years we researched habitats and diet to create the best possible homes for them. A few weeks would go by and Katie would leave the plastic container out in the sun. At first the container would heat up like a moist sauna and steam the bugs. After a few more days the habitat would dry out and I would dump the dead crispy bugs in the trash before she noticed they had gone missing.

In the past couple of years both girls have seemed more interested in pop music, fashion, and make-up than bugs. But something must have changed today. May be it was the warm weather after the nice spring rain we had yesterday, but after school I started to empty Katie's lunch pail and found that her snack containers were not filled with remnants of chips and carrots, but soil and roly poly bugs. Yes, I was a bit taken back in shock. I asked Katie about why the sudden interest in roly poly bugs and her answer, "It's that time of year. I was looking for lady bugs and soon butterflies will be out. It is spring - my favorite time of the year."

She took the bugs outside in the backyard and made a nice little habitat for them. She came back in the house with a requests for instructions on how to sex them. I quickly printed out some suggestions from the internet about egg sacks on legs and copulatory appendages. At nine year old does she even know what the definition of a copulatory appendage is? I hope not. She went back outside to try and figure it out. About a hour later she announced she was breeding the bugs and selling them for a profit. Ah, yes, spring is in the air and I guess she didn't need a definition after all. But alas, I didn't have the heart to tell her that it is hard to sell something that anyone can find for free.