One of Joshua's daily responsibilities is to water the tomato plants. This year, for some reason, we are having a terrible problem with caterpillars eating all the leaves off of our tomato plants. Erik instructed Joshua and I to get rid of any caterpillars that we found on the plants. And, by getting rid of them I feel certain he meant for us to kill them.Well, today when Joshua went outside to water the tomato plants I decided to go with him. And, while we were watering, I noticed that a great number of leaves were missing. I assumed this was the work of a caterpillar. So, I gave the tomato plants a thorough look over, and I didn't see any caterpillars. Then, I noticed that a couple of the branches were thicker than normal. I observed them more closely, and, by golly, the extra thickness had legs and a face, an unattractive face. I had no idea how big, fat, and ugly caterpillars could be! When Erik said "caterpillar," I innocently assumed he meant the cute little fuzzy variety. But, um, no, there is nothing cute or little about these caterpillars, or fuzzy for that matter. I used two sticks to pry each of the two overweight culprits off of the plants, and then I put them in a glass. I was going to dump them in the woods somewhere far from our beloved tomato plants. But. . .
Joshua not would have it!
"They are my pets!" he protested.
And, being the sucker that I am, I went inside, found his bug catcher, and carefully placed the caterpillars inside with leaves to eat. He has named them Sam and Julie. I am not sure whether or not to take offense at this, but he named the biggest, fattest caterpillar Julie (feminine) and the smaller, thinner caterpillar Sam (masculine). Anyway, he wanted to bring them inside, but I put my foot down on that one! I refuse to imagine one of them crawling freely in my home!
Here he is with his new pets!
Little boys! Gotta love 'em!
3 comments:
As much as I didn't expect it, my girls are bug crazy- UGH!
When my first daughter was 3 she caught a grasshopper and named it Grassy. When she left it at pre-school after show and tell we had to get someone to unlock the school so it wouldn't die over the weekend.
She still remembers Grassy fondly- good for you for providing the bug catcher, you are creating sweet memories with your boys:-)
The first time I saw one of those things I thought I'd lose my lunch, because they are seriously creepy looking; and I'm not a squeamish person. I feel the same way looking at the picture.
But Joshua's face while he's holding them in the bug catcher? Oh my! I certinly don't feel squeamish at that. He knows that beauty comes from within!
UGH! Those caterpillars freak me out! They live in my tomato plants as well...your boys are kinder than I am...
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