Curly

I have both little ones with me this past Saturday doing our errand runs. To try to spark some conversation (and to keep them from bickering with each other) I ask: “What’s the weirdest animal you’ve ever touched?”

“Weirdest?” they ask.

“Yeah. Weird. Strange. Different. I’m not talking about dogs or cats or hamsters. Something weird.”

I know they both touched a chicken; Little One even carried one in her arms when some traveling petting zoo stopped by at her day care center. I also know they’ve both caught worms and slugs, because, despite being girls, my two have such a rabid fascination with digging up bugs up out of the ground in my backyard. Hopefully, it’s just a fad that’ll soon end. I can’t envision my two girls running around in the mud of the rainforest in Steve Irwin khakis chasing scorpions and pythons and other slimy nasties. Well, maybe Patch.

And sure enough, Patch reminds me that she’s touched a worm before.

But I’m wondering – did either of them touch a dolphin? Have they ever been to Sea World or something?

Then Little One says, “I’ve touched a tarantula.”

A tarantula! A tarantula!! My mouth is agape. I absolutely hate spiders! And my daughter has touched one? “Explain,” I demand.

Apparently, one Mr. Larry from the local conservatory has visited my daughter’s classroom, bringing all sorts of insects and odd little animals the children may never have seen before.

“His name is Curly.”

Mr. Larry takes Curly the hairy arachnid out of its box and lets it crawl on his arm. None of the children would go near, except Little One. She volunteers to come up to the front of the class and … blech! … touch Curly as it’s prowling along on the zookeepers arm.

I can’t believe this. Or maybe I can – this is the girl who called spiders “ladybugs” when she was a one-year-old and tried to touch them back then.

Thinking nothing can possibly top that, I announce that she’s won the Weirdest Animal prize.

But – “Daddy, I can top that.”

“You can top a tarantula!?”

“Yup.”

“What?”

…

“I touched dinosaur poop,” she says with a huge grin on her face. “Fossilized dinosaur poop.”