Jackson and the spider.

Let me first explain Jackson's obsession with this Wild Kratts show...

It comes on PBS at 4:30-5:00pm, weekdays.
During this half hour, you wouldn't even know Jackson is in the house - he will sit so quietly and listen to every word they say on this show.

As most parents of young children would agree, between the hours of 4-6 pm are the most difficult because everyone seems to be going in a different direction...parents coming home from work, kids coming home from daycare, trying to get dinner ready, etc. So, when we found a distraction for our, otherwise very high-energy, son we were pleasantly relieved.

Wild Kratts is an educational show that helps teach kids an appreciation for wildlife...ALL wildlife...from tiny earthworms to enormous polar bears to platypus to flying tree lizards...
It really is a good show.

So, when Jackson found a spider on our ceiling the other day, he had a very "unJackson-like" response to it.
He said, "Look mom, a little spider. Poor little fella, it's too cold for him outside."

My jaw just dropped open in amazement as I thought back six months ago when our son would see a spider, shriek like a girl, and then run in the opposite direction while flapping his hands wildly in the air.
Or, when he'd find pleasure in stomping on as many ants, box elder bugs, and ladybugs as he could find crawling out on our driveway during the summer months.

Now, as far as the spider on our ceiling, there was no way Jackson was going to let me kill it. As soon as I approached it with a stool in one hand and a tissue in the other, he came running over to me with tears in his eyes saying, "please mom, please don't kill "him" (Jackson informed me it was a boy spider)."
Instead, Jackson decided he was going to keep a watchful eye on him for the rest of the night; he checked on him every 10 minutes or so until it was time to go to bed.

I then had a conversation with Jackson about how Mr. Spider may decide to crawl into our bedrooms during the night, and then may proceed to crawl on us while we are asleep.

As much as Jackson seemed to like his new friend, the thought of a spider crawling on him while he slept was enough to convince him something needed to be done with this spider.
Squishing it with a tissue was still not OK with Jackson, so we discussed how we could put him outside and still allow him to survive in this cold weather.
Jackson came up with the idea of putting him underneath our deck. Since there isn't any snow under there, it has to be warmer, right mom?
I didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise.

So, yes, we did what you're all thinking...

We shoveled off a spot on our deck, trapped Mr. spider, put him down the crack, said our good-byes, and Jackson went to bed with optimistic thoughts in his head that his new friend will live happily ever after under our deck.

After the fact, I had thoughts a toilet-flushing funeral may have been the easier way to go...oh well, we sent our son to bed happy. And that made us happy too.