Thursday, October 20, 2011

April 8, 2008--Timothy and the pasquitoes

Yesterday we spent a lot of time outside, because it was so beautiful out. We got all the bikes ready for riding--sprayed the chains down with WD-40, replaced missing handlebars or broken seats, repaired and pumped up tires, etc. We were out past 8:00pm before we got the last one finished, and the mosquitoes were starting to bite. As I was finishing up putting training wheels on Rachel's bike, I called to the kids and told them to go inside before the mosquitoes ate them up.

I didn't stop and think how that might sound to a 3-year old. Timothy didn't even know what a mosquito was, but it sounded pretty scary to him. He went inside, but then remembered he had left his shoes outside, so he came back out to find them, but they were gone. Erick had taken them inside when he'd picked up our mess we'd made. Timothy was crying hysterically, and I wasn't sure what was wrong. I asked him why he was crying, and he said, "The pasquitoes got my shoes!" Even after I had convinced him that his shoes were in the house, he was still pretty upset. It wasn't until we were safe inside that he began to calm down.

I'm pretty sure he thought mosquitoes were a lot bigger than they are. I explained to him that mosquitoes are just a little bug, not big like monsters. If they bite you, it will just leave an itchy bump, but it wouldn't kill you. I think he finally understood, but he stayed on my lap for the rest of the evening.

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