Bye Bye Buggy

Summer has arrived.  Yes, that is what I said.  After a non-existent winter, we have skipped spring.  Temps this week have hit near 80 degrees.  We are all loving it!  Bike rides, chalk art on the sidewalks and hunting for new buggy friends. 

Yesterday Will found a box elder bug in the house.  He quickly became "Buggy" and Will was playing with him, speaking sweetly to him, and letting him crawl all over him.  That night he put him in the window before bed and let him sleep there.  This morning was more fun with Buggy.  He let Buggy sit in on his Math lesson, and spent quite a while constructing him a little home.

Will asked if we could find out what he liked to eat.  We found out they like Silver Maple leaves and Box elder Tree leaves.  We went walking to see if we could find any.  Since there are no new leaves yet, we opted for last falls leaves.  Will put the leaves in the home for buggy.  We went on with the rest of our day, and buggy was safe and sound in his little house.

A few hours later we were getting ready to eat dinner and Jack opened Buggy's house.  Will quickly found him.  He began to cry "Mom!  Buggy has no grip, he isn't moving!"  Our Buggy had left us.  Buggy loved his little home, but we forgot he was in the Lego house, in the south window, on a sunny day.  Buggy was crispy, he just got too hot.  I explained to Will that they aren't meant to live very long, that's why God made so many.  But Will was beside himself.  He was sobbing, genuinely devastated.

I love that kids soft heart.  I commended him on the job he did of taking such good care of God's creature.  I told him we could have a funeral for him after we were done eating dinner.  Will requested a candle during the ceremony.  So after dinner, we took Buggy out to the back yard, and dug a little grave under a landscaping rock.  I laid Buggy in his hole and asked Will if he wanted to say a few words.  "Yes" Will said through tears.  "Buggy, you know how much fun we had today" then a long pause as he cried "I'm sorry you got too hot in your Lego house."  Another short pause, "okay, I'm done talking."  And we laid little Buggy to rest.

After I was done with dishes we found the mother load of box elder bugs and now the boys have a new habitat with three new friends.  Jack has already told Will we are not having any more bug funerals. 



One more thing, just so I don't forget.  We were walking out of the grocery store the other day and out of the blue Will says "Mom, I'm like car insurance, because I save Money."  ....Alright then.