Or both?
I almost called this post “Cute or Gross,” in the style of Cute Overload‘s Cute or Sad feature. But then I thought, there’s virtually no context within which I’d call a spider cute.
Yep, I said spider.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a fan of spiders. In fact, I’ve been terrified of them for most of my life. RD Husband has accused me of passing on my fear to our boys, so I try to go out of my way to be super nonchalant and chill when both kids and spiders are involved.
The three-year-old and I were out on the playset yesterday, and it was pretty much riddled with spiders and webs. There was a massive one literally covering the entire opening from the playhouse to the slide. I did my best casual, “hey, look at these cool webs!” And then, we really found a cool one. Not only was it still inhabited, I’m pretty sure the owner was in the middle of breakfast.
We actually saw it spinning some web around the prey; it used its back legs and spun the bug it had captured around and, I think, covered it with more web.
When I showed this spider to the three-year-old, I told him to come closer to look. He wisely replied, “Not TOO close.” But he was interested. So depending on your perspective, this was either a parenting fail since I’ve passed on some of my fear of spiders, or a parenting win since I’m trying to help them appreciate these buggers. From a distance. I’ll let you decide.
Please also decide whether this post is cool or gross.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Now this is funny. I say it’s a parenting win, ’cause knowing not to get too close to wild things is a good rule of thumb. Big thumbs up to you for taking a closer look — isn’t it fun to see what surprises you find?
Cool! Maybe tomorrow you will go out there and the web will spell “STUPENDOUS.” Now THAT would be awesome.
Or maybe, “Some Mom.”
Definitely a win on your part! We have our share of spiders here, as you know, and I am a lot like you. Trying to not show my heebie jeebies, but not exactly relaxed either!
The spider is pretty cool, but of course I can say that cause I’m just seeing a photo!
I posted my photos on a spider identification website, so I will update the post when I find out what it is. So far, one person suggests it’s a Shamrock Orb Weaver, or Araneus trifolium for all you science geeks out there. I kind of love that name, but I have no idea how it’s related to a shamrock.