The Pet Ladybug

Yesterday, Madelyn became quite enamored with a little ladybug she found on the back porch. I tried to take a pic, but she said that I would scare her with that big ole camera and that 'crocodile' in there might scare her, too, so she kept hiding her so I couldn't get a shot. (When I'm trying to get her to look into the camera, I tell her to watch for the crocodile eye to wink at her--what she's really seeing is the aperture opening and closing). I did manage to sneak one quite-a-bit-out-of-focus snap of Miss Ladybug.

And then the tears came. She couldn't find Miss Ladybug. I told her that fish gotta swim, bugs gotta fly, but that didn't seem to help. We looked for a while, to no avail. By this time, it was starting to get on up in the evening, so we all went in to start getting ready for bed--with no ladybug in sight. When Madelyn was getting her pajamas ready, I noticed something moving in her hair, so I told her to go look in the mirror. Apparently, Miss Ladybug had hitched a ride inside on Miss Madelyn's locks.

Well, it was on like Donkey Kong after that. Miss Ladybug went through the entire bedtime routine at Madelyn's side---up to and including going to bed. Yep, that's right, she took her Pet Ladybug to bed with her last night.

We call Carlyn a 'Bug', and everyday when Madelyn hears Carlyn get up from her nap she'll say, "I hear a Bug, the Bug's awake!", and I say, "We love Bugs 'round here, don't we?", and she'll say, "Mmmhmmm, we do.".

So, when I told Madelyn she couldn't take the bug to bed with her last night, she said, "But Mom! We love bugs 'round here!"

How was I supposed to argue with that?