Short Lived Pride

Yesterday Timmy and I went to the Animal Park where he participated in the Animal Preschool class. I was nervous about whether or not he would behave and pay attention, especially without the oversight of his brother, but he did a phenomenal job.  I felt a surge of pride as I watched him sitting on the little circle rug, participating and following the instruction of his teacher.

The pride I felt during the first portion of his class was short lived and completely erased by the time the teacher began the discussion portion of the class. She went around the circle, asking each student what they would do if they found a bug in their bedroom. Based from the discussion, the story that she had just read and the fact that we were at an animal rescue site, the answers varied from "I would get my parents" to "I would scoop it into my bug box to release." 

Not my Timmy. When it came to Timmy's turn, he simply stated that he would, "take Momom's other leg and squash the bug."  Yes, during a class about the importance of bugs and bug preservation, my little bug squisher drew a line in the sand. Definitely not my proudest moment.

Alas, the embarrassment over the bug confession was quickly overshadowed by the reptile portion of the class. Holding a large boa constrictor and after letting every student touch the new slithery friend, the teacher asked the students what to do if they find a snake. Spoiler alert- Timmy did not provide the correct answer.

Without hesitation, and while she was still holding a snake, Timmy said that he would "Hit the snake with a stick until it breaks its booty to pieces. Then it will go to a dirt hole." Needless to say, Timmy was not chosen to hold any of the animals during the class.

Sigh. Yesterday definitely wasn't my proudest demonstration of parenting. Contrary to his answers, we are an animal loving family. Unfortunately, I don't tend to tolerate bugs and I detest snakes. (I do feel the need to clarify that we don't kill snakes. When we find one in our yard, we take a stick and try to fling it away.)  I guess next time I'll check the discussion schedule before attending another class. I don't want Timmy to get a reputation as a bruiser.