On New Years eve, Johnny, our pet Preying Mantis passed away. He was not eating very well in the couple weeks preceding his demise, so it wasn't completely unexpected.The day after New Years, I told Sonja about Johnny's fate and told her he was in heaven with our dog Hank (who passed away in 2006 from osteosarcoma) and Big Al our cat (who succumbed to feline AIDS in 2007).
This morning while I was helping Sonja get ready for UPK, she said to me "Mommy, Johnny is going to get hurt! He's too small and Hankie and Big Al are going to step on him!"
At first, I hadn't a clue as to what she was talking about, but after asking her to repeat it, I then understood what she meant. I told her that as far as I know, heaven has trees and plants and is like a paradise! He can climb up in the trees and hide in plants and near rocks and stuff so that he doesn't get hurt. He's safe and I'm sure having fun with other Preying Mantis' (?) who are there too, along with Hankie and Al. I tried to calm her concerns.
She smiled and said "Oh! That's good." And that was the end of it! I guess what I told her worked!
I have a feeling that in the future, instead of seeing a stray dog or cat and saying "Can we keep it", Sonja will be saying it about any "stray" preying mantis that crosses her path!
That's my girl!
Until next time.....
