A Bug's Life

My youngest child who is five now, loves bugs. He has always loved bugs. He loves them so much that he has no reservations about touching or holding them. In the past my wife and I have had to tell him to put things down. When he was three, he came to us proudly holding a slimy slug. After he started placing the slug near his mouth, his mother and I had to institute a no slug policy. I want to teach him to think before he touches stuff, besides bugs are disgusting and I’m a bit of a germaphobe. He won’t go near spiders, thank goodness. He’s ok with that as he informed me the other day that spiders are not insects, they are infact arachnids which are much different. So, it isn’t uncommon to find my little guy coming the yard looking for unique and interesting insects. I must say he is getting pretty good at it.

To fuel my son’s interest in creepy crawlies, he made a bug catcher at preschool. It’s actually pretty cool. It’s nothing more than a small cage to put bugs in, but its construction was well done. After school that day the little guy wasted no time in procuring a small black beetle to inhabit the newly made cell. My son’s intention was to take good care of the beetle. He told me that the beetle was his good friend. Later I noticed that the beetles house had all sorts of grass furnishings to make it feel welcome. Days went by and he still had his friend. At times my son would take the beetle out of his cage to play with him. I would warn by telling my son that I didn't want a bug on the loose in the house. The bug tamer boy turned out to be quite responsible. The beetle was always placed in the cage and looked after. At night before I go to bed, I check on my sleeping children to make sure they are still tucked in. And every night my dedicated son always has the little bug catcher and its occupant next to him at the head of his bead.

A couple of weeks ago my little son and I were watching a speaker on TED talks. This speaker was demonstrating various kinds of bugs. As the presentation continued, the bug expert showed how insects should be used as food. He informed us on the bug’s excellent nutrition and vitamin content. He pointed out that bug sustainability surpases that of standard forms of food resourses. It was a very interesting presentation to which he concluded by eating a small sample of bugs. This presentation would have a surprising effect on both my son and me.

Yesterday, I was working on a project in my garage. This is a pretty common thing for me to do. So I naturally have my youngest with me. It was a nice day outside, so the large door was open to enjoy the sun and to let my guy out to play. He usually colors the driveway with chalk art and goes insect hunting. Pretty normal day.

Then I hear him say, “daddy, I found some ants!” At this point I’m only halfway listening, but there was no alarm in his statement. I just made the usual fatherly “uh huh” noise and kept working. Then he said something about “taste”. Again there was no alarm in his voice, and I was busy concentrating on something else. A minute later I hear him say something about “tasting good”. I had my hands full so I just responded with some kind of low acknowledgement. This went on for about twenty minutes. As my focus lessened on what my hands were trying to accomplish, my mind started to wonder about what adventure my very tactile son was involved with. “Hey little buddy” I exclaimed! “What are you doing?” I could see the blond hair of my son as he stood up from the driveway. He quickly skipped over to where I was standing, just inside the garage door. He said proudly, “I found some ants and I’m eating them!” I wasn’t sure if I should believe him or just go along with the joke. So I said, “oh ya, what do they taste like?” He then informed me that they tasted like broccoli. My curiosity grew steadily as the “joke” took another step forward into concern. So as any good father would do, I responded with the very juvenile but reliable playground ploy of, “why don’t you show me.” My son then turned excitedly and said, “ok daddy.” Now the joke was turning into some sick kind of dare.

My five year old son walked over to a crack in the cement where scores of tiny ants appeared to be running around. He then reached down grabbed an ant with his tweezer like fingers and placed the insect in his mouth and began chewing. I watched in unbelief as my boy began digesting this creature. I wasn’t sure how to feel. Should I be proud or concerned? Maybe I should freak out and wash my son’s mouth out with soap. A whole myriad of thoughts rushed over me as how I should act. I was at a definite intersection in how I could handle this.

Then I remembered the guy on TED talks. Maybe this could be a good learning tool. So, I told my son to catch another ant. As he began wrangling the insect, I walked over the the feeding ground and crouched down to watch. He soon found another victim and held it up to my face. At this time, the experience was not some kind of dare, although it could be categorized as sick. It was in actuality a special kind of moment between father and son. I opened my mouth trying not to think about what was going to happen. With quick fingers my little boy rolled the ant into my mouth. I could tell he had some experience doing this as he knew how to be fast enough as to keep the ant from escaping the jaws of death. I bit down fast to put the bug out of its misery and to begin mine.

First of all, ants do not taste like broccoli. I have found their taste to be a bit sour and mostly tart. The tiny bug was surprisingly crunchy. Actually, it wasn’t that bad. But mostly I enjoyed the moment between my son and me. I acted differently in this situation than I normally would have. It was definitely worth it. The look on my son’s face in this sharing moment was priceless.

-Brother Jared