Crickets are Scary

With our house being decked out with Halloween decor, Lucy has become fully aware of what a spider is. Until now, she simply paid little to no attention to anything creepy or crawly. However, now, she points out fake spiders yelling, "Pider." Then, she pretends to cringe with fear.

A real bug may be a different story...

I picked Lucy up from daycare one afternoon and we ventured toward the car. It is a pretty descent walk to the car, about a city block's distance. On the sidewalk, Lucy pointed out something and yelled, "pider!"

I leaned over to see a dead Asian beetle, you know those orange lady bug things.  I said, "No. That is a beetle, Lucy."

About that time a cricket jumped on the sidewalk, right next to Lucy.

Her head jerked in the cricket's direction. Her eyes locked on it and widened.

"Ahhhhhh!"

And, she took off running down the sidewalk. She was running on her toes and her arms pumped at her sides. I've never seen her run so fast; she almost fell forward with all of her momentum.

I laughed. I could barely run after her; I was laughing too hard.

I tried to explain that it was a cricket and that it wouldn't hurt her. It didn't do much for comfort. I told her to grab my hand and "Mommy will keep you safe."

The rest of the walk, even once we were at the car, Lucy looked over her shoulder every ten seconds.  She just knew that monster cricket was going to follow us home. :)

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope everyone stays safe tonight as they venture out for trick or treating. Watch out for those crickets! And, remember to watch that traffic while walking door to door. :)