just get me a BIG jar . . .

so today . . . i again had a classroom full of four year olds before 9:00. and they were pretty good this morning--everyone was engaged in an activity, they were talking quietly, no one was arguing or fighting over a particular toy.

and then . . .

. . . a little girl saw a spider.

"AAAHHHHHHHH!!!! A SPIDER!!!!!!" she screamed.

for a bunch of children who were apparently afraid of a spider, they certainly all ran over to see it rather quickly!

i'm not really afraid of spiders. i'm not fond of them, and i prefer not seeing them over seeing them, but i can kill one if i have to. this is a skill born of necessity--rollie is usually either not at home or not awake when i spot the creepy crawley creatures, and diandra . . . well, let's just say that for diandra, spiders are much larger than life. so i have just learned to "suck it up" and squish them in a tissue. and then flush them. because even though i'm not afraid, i don't want to take any chances . . .

so i walked over to see what the fuss was about, and there it was--the scrawniest, skinniest spider i have ever seen! it was almost invisible, it was so skinny! and yet there was a crowd of 8 small children huddled around, scared to death but unable to stop looking at it.

"oh please," i said. (i would like to say i said it with concern in my voice, but the truth is, there was probably more sarcasm than concern . . . ) "it is a teeny tiny spider. let's just leave it alone and let it find it's way back outside." i'm not a fan of killing things, even spiders, in front of children, so i usually try to foster the idea of live and let live. however, this idea was met with skepticism, but i am the teacher, so they all slowly backed away and resumed their play. although a couple of them were keeping an eye on that corner . . .

pretty soon one little guy came up to my desk, and with a big smile on his face he said, "how about if we catch it and put it in a jar?"

i am not a fan of spiders in jars, especially in my classroom. so in an attempt to discourage this idea, i said, "i don't know. would you like it if we caught you and put you in a jar?"

he looked at me with big, blue eyes and said, "no, not me . . . the spider!"