One of the things I like to do is watch the living things in my world. I feel awe at the wonder of the world, especially wildlife. That is something I always shared with my children when they were growing up. We had silk worms, we fed them and watched them spin silk, we had a garden and collected tomato worms (Jess called them her "Sweet Peas" and she wouldn't touch them now if her very life depended on it!) and kept them in an aquarium until they emerged as Hawk Moths, I brought home chicks and that didn't last long, very messy. We had a baby opossum for a while. Snakes and lizards for sure. Oh ya, and what about the caterpillars that were destroying the neighbors Weeping Willow tree, we took a bunch of them, kept them fed, watched them turn into cocoons and become beautiful butterflies. Wow! What wonderful times. A huge plus, my grown children are really the most compassionate and loving people. I think, no, I know that if children are taught to have a reverence for life, even the smallest, that they will respect and care for people and creatures and know that they have a responsibility to others, and not just to their selves.
Now I get to share it all over again with my g-kids. Here are some picks of Ethan with his "best friends". I call them that because Brandon did when he was little and I can remember having dinner at Sizzler and he insisted on taking them out to eat with us. They seemed to enjoy slimming all over the table as we ate. He thought it was great fun and so did I. Ethan is learning about how they react to stimuli (something I am learning about too in Bio 105!) as he pokes their eyes, so fun. He like to push them along as if they were a hot wheel car. He found out that they aren't very sturdy and that their shell will crack. He has come a long way with snails though, he used to like to use his little hammer to "cack" the snails, until I found other things like acorns and such for him to smash.
The snails are really entertaining for little people, but you gotta keep an eye on them. They may be slow, but they can get away from you. We have lost a few in our house much to Jessica's horror!
Now I get to share it all over again with my g-kids. Here are some picks of Ethan with his "best friends". I call them that because Brandon did when he was little and I can remember having dinner at Sizzler and he insisted on taking them out to eat with us. They seemed to enjoy slimming all over the table as we ate. He thought it was great fun and so did I. Ethan is learning about how they react to stimuli (something I am learning about too in Bio 105!) as he pokes their eyes, so fun. He like to push them along as if they were a hot wheel car. He found out that they aren't very sturdy and that their shell will crack. He has come a long way with snails though, he used to like to use his little hammer to "cack" the snails, until I found other things like acorns and such for him to smash.
The snails are really entertaining for little people, but you gotta keep an eye on them. They may be slow, but they can get away from you. We have lost a few in our house much to Jessica's horror!
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