A few days ago I had the opportunity to tell my daughter about a praying mantis (Chinese Mantis) that was on the side of our car. She thought it was so cool that it was just hanging there and it looked a lot like a stick. What she found even more interesting is when I told her what mommy praying mantises do when they have babies with daddy praying mantises.
It was funny watching her reaction when she learned that the mommy praying mantis eats the daddy praying mantis after they have a baby. I know this is actually after they mate, but I figure explaining it to her would be easier if I said after they have a baby. I’m sure that this will lead to more thought provoking discussions as she gets older and she wants to learn about babies and where babies come from. It’s going to be even more interesting on how I am going to explain all this baby stuff to her and Alex. Truthfully, I’d much rather just be honest and give her the details, but I’m not exactly sure what is an appropriate for these types of discussions. I know at five, she’s not ready for it.
Instead we talk about things that actually matter, such as who is better Elsa or Anna? Miles or Diego? I attempt to enlighten her with cartoons from my past like Batman The Animated Series and Gargoyles. She’s just stuck on her Crafty Carol videos and these Disney Junior and Nick Jr. cartoons. I’ve gotten her into Ducktales but it’s not something she seemed particularly interested in for the long haul.
So what does this all mean? I don’t know, talk to your kids, show them crazy, freaky bugs, and tell them how in some bug cultures mommy eats daddy for breakfast.
