Caterpillar

Yesterday when we were at the playground Everett had his first experience with caterpillars. A child gathered a bunch of them up and put them on a little play structure near us, so I grabbed one and showed it to Everett. He was strangely fascinated--a little wary, a little intrigued, and a whole lot curious.

I asked him if he wanted to hold it and even though he kept refusing, his eyes never wavered from the little crawling creature in my hand. After a little while I decided to put it on his arm and he seemed to be a little exhilarated by it. He loved watching it crawl around but shook it off after a few seconds. Seeing that he was enjoying himself, I took him to where the rest of the caterpillars were crawling around.

By this time, there was a little two-year-old girl there with her mom. Everett paid them no mind and went about his business of systematically poking and prodding the little caterpillars, subsequently knocking them onto the ground. The girl, however, shrieked as soon as she saw the caterpillars and every time afterwards when they landed in her gaze. Her mom laughed at the obvious difference between boys and girls and remarked to me that it is amazing how differently they reacted.

It is funny how little boys and little girls are wired so differently with so many things. There are many girls who are not afraid of bugs and there are many boys who are, but still it is fun to see some of these characteristics displayed so readily.