Bravery

I have come to the conclusion that I am not particularly brave. Especially when it comes to things with eight furry legs and beady eyes that stare back at you. Things like tarantulas.

Saturday afternoon found us in Exposition Park at the annual Bug Fair at the Natural History Museum. After a nanosecond-long attempt at holding a tarantula, which ended with me instantly saying,"Ok, you can take it off my hand, NOW!" I've decided I like bugs best when they're outside, not when they're crawling up my arm.

Fortunately, that esteemed attribute of bravery seems to be manifesting itself quite healthily in my eldest son. I'm now renaming him "Master Tarantula Holder of Los Angeles".

It was great to see my son getting to talk with the scientists who research all the arachnids and bugs out there. He met the professors and got to talk to the college students about why they got into studying bugs in the first place.

If you're worried it was all high-brow intellectualism, never fear.

At one table, manned by a guy I'd say was in his late fifties, my son held his second tarantula. Then, when he was finished holding the spider, he said, "Thank you for letting me hold your spider. He was a really nice spider."

The guy paused for a moment...and I know that pause. It's the, "I can't believe kids can be so polite" pause. He leaned down and said, "Young man, let me shake your hand."

My son extended his hand and they shook hands.

The man continued. "You like the Spiderman movies?"

My son nodded, "Yes".

"Then you can tell all your friends that you just met the man who did the spiders for the Spiderman movies."

After that experience, I think my son may be altering his dreams of becoming a pediatrician and may now be gunning for bug-handler instead. He held five tarantulas, three African millipedes, a stick bug, and a scorpion on Saturday.

He really had to work his way up to the scorpion. He asked all the bug scientists if a scorpion's dangerous. They all said yes, but you know the disclaimer, "If you provoke it!" I was not down for the scorpion holding. I mean, the stinger on that thing is huge! But he really wanted to do it. Afterwards, he said, "Do you want to try it, Mommy. It's not so bad."

Um, no. That's okay. I am not as brave as he is.

My son thinks he's invincible. He believes he can do anything. I don't want him to lose that bravery.