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I know that most people seem to have this fear of spiders. Are they too ugly? Or too many of them poisonous? Or what?
I don’t know because when I was in my first university biology lab, I became fascinated with everything about biology. Fascinated really doesn’t even cover it. Exploring my options, I consider a career as an entomologist and accordingly chose courses that would take me into that field.
Life happens, and I did not go off into that avenue. I ended up bearing several sons instead of bearing bugs (in tubes , of course).
But, I continued to be intrigued by all insects.
Which rather irritated my young sons.
Seriously, they told me, when a mother sees a mouse, she was supposed to squeal, not say: let’s put out some cheese…
When there are snakes in the silverware drawer, a mother was supposed to say: help someone,, get these out of here….
When there are containers of frozen bees in the freezer , a mother is supposed to freak if she pulled one out thinking it was lasagna…
When there are ants marching across the door threshold, a mother was suppose to worry about the food, not go look for the nest in the backyard…..
When there were slugs eating the turnip in the garden, a mother was suppose to be repulsed, not show them how salt just shrivels them up…
When there is a wasp nest in the field as big as a watermelon, a mother is supposed to run away faster than the boys, not figure out a way to bring it home…
I admit, my sons did try to get that ’oh gross yeck’ reaction. Try and try and try. Capturing ugly bugs in jars,experimenting with them on the KITCHEN table.
Nothing really fazed me.
One autumn , they placed a huge spider up in the kitchen window above the sink. It was partially covered by the curtains so it secretly built its web. They fed it insects and kept it happy. WAITING for me to finally see it when I was washing dishes one day. The web covered nearly a whole third of the window.
Instead, they came into the kitchen one cold winter day to find me feeding it with a delighted smile. Hey guys, look at this, we have a spider hibernating in our kitchen!
And we did. It stayed that cold winter as we continued to feed it. I don’t think any spider has ever had it so good.
Early spring we released it into our backyard and wished it well. And after that, they gave up.
Now, if they only knew what I was really afraid of……
*this is written as part of the 30 day writing challenge.Check it out here.
I’m not afraid of insects, but they do bug me. Icky little buggers. Kind of funny that you re-buffed all the attempts at your kids spooking you!
It began way back in grade 6…don’t let a boy know he has grossed you out or….then he will do more! I applied that learned knowledge raising my sons and truly, I simply became more intrigued. Of course, they never did anything Nasty, like a dead mouse in my bed…..
Oh, how I wish I could feel that way about spiders.
There’s something about your post that really “bugs” me. Interesting, though.
I think we have the same attitudes about “critters”. I love possums, rats, snakes, and spiders. (My ants have won prizes for their size after being fed just the right amount of nectar and honey.
Oh dear…did you say RATS….they are very ugly to look at when you dissect them…ugh…or see them anywhere…shhh, don’t let my boys know
Ok, Wendy. I’ll give you 1,000 points if you tell us what you are afraid of…
I see, I get a big 500 points for mentioning that it was MIKE who suggested the prompt (bing) but a Measly 1000 for divulging my fear for ALL the world to see, including my sons….hah, you have got to be kidding!
OH, DO TELL!!!!! ha ha! I am intrigued.. what did you feed the spider?
Ha, see, now I want to know what you’re afraid of as well. That’s one lucky spider.
Now, I am totally wondering what it is that you are really afraid of. I had only one science course left to take to graduate from my university. The only course that had available space was in an entomology course and I am terrified of insects. I went to my advisor and cried, cried, cried and said I would drop out of college in my last semester before I would study bugs. He signed off to let me graduate. I was really cute or he was really sick of me. Whatever…it worked.
At university now , they have carefully crafted science courses for ‘artsy’ people to get their one science course. No Bugs or labs involved. Maybe your advisor suggested they design them…
It’s a beautiful post, but I’ll tell you what we’re afraid of: we’re afraid they’ll crawl into our ears, eat our brains, build a web (which would cause my brain to be even more foggy than it already is), and have babies right there in my cerebral cortex. …just sayin’ my fear isn’t that far fetched.
Actually, be glad I didn’t tell you about the obviously huge spider that bit one son while he slept right under his…..
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