Bye, fly!

Lately, our house has been plagued by those nasty, big, buzz-in-your-ears-and-make-you-hate-life flies. The first few days, I was content to leave them alone and hope they'd either (a) fly out the door sometime of their own volition (and in what would perhaps be a great show of ingenuity, for a fly) or (b) die in a brief matter of time. Since neither hope was fulfilled, I took to the Swatter.

I'm not very good at Swatting, but you know, when you've got huge targets that've been inside for a few days already, it's not exactly an Olympic Sport. My current count is up to three.

It's a messy business - I'm not going to lie to you. But I've learned one important thing: fly-killing is an activity best saved for moments when your toddler is not present. I made the mistake of swatting the first fly yesterday while he was hanging out with me in the kitchen. I knew at the time that it went against all the principles of Observing Our World In Wonder that I've been working on with Luke lately. In an effort to teach him to appreciate God's creation, we've gotten into the habit of stopping for any beetle or flower or lizard or stink bug or dried-up earthworm we come across.

But the flies!

Anyway, I thought I'd do the business quickly and with a chipper attitude, like this was yet another crazy adventure with Mom, and so I didn't think anything of it when I scooped up the dead fly (in a paper towel, of course - ewgh) and tossed it in our undersink kitchen trash can with a brief (but perhaps gleeful), "Bye, fly!"

Two minutes later, Luke walks over to that cabinet under the sink and peers in. Just as I start to freak out about him getting into All Those Chemicals I carelessly store there, I hear him announce his objective: "Bye, fly!" he says, with a little wave and a sober peek into the trash can. Then he solemnly closes the cabinet door and gives me a look that either says, "Sometimes we just have to let go, don't we, Mom?" or "I can't believe you just took that poor fly's life." I hope it's the former. Still, I think I'll save the fly-killing for naptime from now on.