unintentional trauma

It’s mosquito season again. Yippee! Another plus for living in the woods. I mean, I know there are mosquitoes everywhere, but believe me when I say they are particularly bad in our backyard. But at least we aren’t breeding them in the swamp anymore. Yep, I know it could be far worse, so with that in mind I gratefully douse my kids in noxious fumes and send them out to play.

The boys usually accept the bug spray without comment, but today for some reason we fell into a discussion. Jackson wanted to know exactly why we were trying to ward off the mosquitoes. And I answered all his questions without a second thought.

“If you don’t put on the bug spray they’ll bite you,” I told him.

“How? Do mosquitoes have teeth?”

“Uh, well, sort of,” searching my brain for ancient information. “They have long mouthparts, sort of like a needle, and at the end are really tiny teeth.”

“Why do they want to bite me?”

“Well, they’re just looking for food, and you’re so super sweet they can’t resist a taste.”

“Why do they eat people?”

“They drink blood, so any animal is fair game… including you and me.” It was at this point, when I finally looked down and noticed his wide-eyed expression, it occurred to me that I might have been a little too specific. Before I could backpedal a gnat landed on Jackson’s cheek and he was off like a flash, running toward the house and screaming bloody murder about being eaten.

Yeah. That could have gone better.

Comments

Caleb said…
Well, hun, he IS super smart (got it from me of course). Maybe just not the most rational all the time (that part, not so much from me)...I LOVE YOU!!
Karolena said…
mosquitoes wings beat 600 times per second!