More heroics from Joshua!
I mentioned at the end of my last post that Joshua had been a hero for rescuing Daniel's new flip-flop from certain doom at the water park. Yesterday he demonstrated even more heroism and I am so proud! For those who may not know, I have a full-blown phobia of insects. I know that my fear is irrational because bugs aren't going to hurt me, etc. but all the rationalizing in the world isn't going to help -- whenever I encounter a bug, I feel genuine fear and disgust. It bothers me a little to be so cliche, a female and afraid of bugs, but what can I say? I am pretty stereotypically female, and I like it for the most part.
Our story begins yesterday afternoon, when Joshua was in his room having his quiet play time. I was out front and Daniel was napping in our bedroom. I heard Joshua playing and he was talking to his toys as he often does when I heard him say, "I'd better go tell mommy." I wondered what it could be. He came out and announced that there was a bug in his room and he wanted to me to come and see. I told myself it was probably a small gnat or spider (I don't have a problem with spiders). But no, it was a big, gross earwiggy type bug. It was on his toy box in the middle of lots of his toys. I quickly averted my eyes and tried not to think too hard about what I had just seen.
At this point I was trying not to panic. I didn't want to just leave the bug loose among the toys only to become an unpleasant surprise later on, but I didn't want to touch it or even get near it, so I was at an impasse. I was just kind of standing there trying to figure out what to do when Joshua said, "Don't worry mommy, I'll get rid of it." Part of me wanted to believe Joshua, and believe in him that he could do it. But another part of me was doubtful, and I didn't want to be left with a harrier situation than before. And still another part of me felt guilty, because here I was, the adult in charge, immobilized by fear into inaction and indecision. I decided to let him give it a try, and he went into the bathroom and came back with a little piece of toilet paper. At this point I needed to leave the room, so I came out front and held my breath.
What I heard coming from his bedroom was not pretty. The running commentary was almost more than I could bear, "Hey, you're a fast little guy. Where did you go, bug? Oh there you are, get back here!" And then, "Mommy! I squished the bug but his back is still moving!" Oh my goodness, this was more than I could bear. I started to feel weak, but I had to say something. I think I lamely called out something like, "well, try squishing it until it doesn't move anymore." I felt horrible. I didn't want the poor thing to suffer, I didn't want to traumatize Joshua and I was feeling SO guilty for not going in there to help him. As I was thus struggling within, Joshua literally swooped in for the rescue. He said "I know what to do. C'mon bug, get on the toilet paper." I didn't see him do it, but he got the half-squished bug onto the toilet paper, got it into the toilet and flushed it away. Now why hadn't I thought of that?! Anyway, I cannot tell you the relief I felt when I realized that the ordeal was over and that Joshua had taken care of the whole thing. I was so incredibly proud of him for his initiative and problem-solving skills. He was able to keep a level head the whole time, even when he could tell that I was stressed.
Later that evening we told Jake about Joshua's very brave deed. He basked in his manhood and then asked, "Mommy, why were you making that noise when you saw the bug?"
"What noise?" I didn't remember making any noise.
"The noise like, "Ahhhh.""
I tried my best to explain that even though mommy is afraid of bugs and doesn't like them, it's my own problem and it doesn't mean that bugs are scary or that there is anything wrong with them. Also, they just don't belong in the house. I have tried hard to hide this fear from my boys, not wanting to pass on my complex to them. I genuinely want them to just get to be boys and have fun with bugs. After all, we would have a true crisis on our hands if we were all afraid of bugs and I had no one to take care of such things. But now the jig is up, and I told Joshua that when daddy isn't home, that means that he is the man of the house. Then I told Daniel that if both daddy and Joshua are gone that he would be the man of the house. This seemed to make everyone happy.
Our story begins yesterday afternoon, when Joshua was in his room having his quiet play time. I was out front and Daniel was napping in our bedroom. I heard Joshua playing and he was talking to his toys as he often does when I heard him say, "I'd better go tell mommy." I wondered what it could be. He came out and announced that there was a bug in his room and he wanted to me to come and see. I told myself it was probably a small gnat or spider (I don't have a problem with spiders). But no, it was a big, gross earwiggy type bug. It was on his toy box in the middle of lots of his toys. I quickly averted my eyes and tried not to think too hard about what I had just seen.
At this point I was trying not to panic. I didn't want to just leave the bug loose among the toys only to become an unpleasant surprise later on, but I didn't want to touch it or even get near it, so I was at an impasse. I was just kind of standing there trying to figure out what to do when Joshua said, "Don't worry mommy, I'll get rid of it." Part of me wanted to believe Joshua, and believe in him that he could do it. But another part of me was doubtful, and I didn't want to be left with a harrier situation than before. And still another part of me felt guilty, because here I was, the adult in charge, immobilized by fear into inaction and indecision. I decided to let him give it a try, and he went into the bathroom and came back with a little piece of toilet paper. At this point I needed to leave the room, so I came out front and held my breath.
What I heard coming from his bedroom was not pretty. The running commentary was almost more than I could bear, "Hey, you're a fast little guy. Where did you go, bug? Oh there you are, get back here!" And then, "Mommy! I squished the bug but his back is still moving!" Oh my goodness, this was more than I could bear. I started to feel weak, but I had to say something. I think I lamely called out something like, "well, try squishing it until it doesn't move anymore." I felt horrible. I didn't want the poor thing to suffer, I didn't want to traumatize Joshua and I was feeling SO guilty for not going in there to help him. As I was thus struggling within, Joshua literally swooped in for the rescue. He said "I know what to do. C'mon bug, get on the toilet paper." I didn't see him do it, but he got the half-squished bug onto the toilet paper, got it into the toilet and flushed it away. Now why hadn't I thought of that?! Anyway, I cannot tell you the relief I felt when I realized that the ordeal was over and that Joshua had taken care of the whole thing. I was so incredibly proud of him for his initiative and problem-solving skills. He was able to keep a level head the whole time, even when he could tell that I was stressed.
Later that evening we told Jake about Joshua's very brave deed. He basked in his manhood and then asked, "Mommy, why were you making that noise when you saw the bug?"
"What noise?" I didn't remember making any noise.
"The noise like, "Ahhhh.""
I tried my best to explain that even though mommy is afraid of bugs and doesn't like them, it's my own problem and it doesn't mean that bugs are scary or that there is anything wrong with them. Also, they just don't belong in the house. I have tried hard to hide this fear from my boys, not wanting to pass on my complex to them. I genuinely want them to just get to be boys and have fun with bugs. After all, we would have a true crisis on our hands if we were all afraid of bugs and I had no one to take care of such things. But now the jig is up, and I told Joshua that when daddy isn't home, that means that he is the man of the house. Then I told Daniel that if both daddy and Joshua are gone that he would be the man of the house. This seemed to make everyone happy.
posted by Leslie | 12:50 PM
1 Comments:
Yay for Joshua! A double hero. I think the description of what happened after you left the room was very dramatic (and pretty funny too!)
This reminds me of something Amelia said about a year ago. She was pretending to have magic plates that could give you anything you wanted. She made up a song about them- (based upon the Lord of the Beans video)
"3 plates were given. I said 3 plates were given. The first plate gave all the spaghetti you could eat. The second plate gave all the bugs you could squish..." I can never remember number 3- it would be hard to top "all the bugs you could squish!"
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