The other day, Samuel was playing outside and he found a Rolly Polly. He brought it inside to show me, and I was duly impressed – until he dropped it on me. Then I jumped up and told him it needed to go back outside.

I thought we were done with it, but a little while later, he came back and asked me for something to put it in, so he could keep it for a pet. I agreed because, what harm could come from having a Rolly Polly? I mean, the bug has a lot of legs but for the most part, it just rolls up into a ball and stays that way. (I guess that’s where they got their alternate name – Pill Bug.)

So I gave Samuel a little plastic container to put it in and he proceeded to make the little guy at home. He found some small rocks to put in it and put a little dirt down in the bottom. Then he asked if he could borrow my scissors. I said "Yes, why?" – a question I learned to ask the hard way – and he said "so I can cut some grass to put in with the Rolly Polly.

(Can I just interject something here??? Never in my life did I imagine having a kid that was such a city boy, he thought the only way to gather grass was with scissors. We grew up pulling grass up by the roots – handfuls of it – to use when we played! Then again, that might be why my parents’ yard is so sparse…but I digress.)

So he finally got his "pet" settled in his home and I told him to keep it in his room. That day, he made multiple trips up and down the stairs to check on his bug. At one point, I asked what he was doing and he said he had gone up to "give the Rolly Polly recess". I didn’t think much about it. Then later, when I asked again and got the same answer, I said "How exactly do you give a Rolly Polly recess?", to which he answered "By letting it run around outside it’s house, of course!".

Great.

So after discussing with him the perils of allowing his bug out of its house, I thought the matter was settled. Then we both agreed it would be best if he brought it back downstairs, where I could help keep an eye on it.

What I didn’t consider was 1) Little boys rarely obey the first time and 2) Our floors are dark brown.

So after surviving an entire day being handled repeatedly and "loved" by a 5 year old, poor Rolly Polly met his demise when he blended so well with the floor, someone squashed him.

Samuel was sad for a moment, then after taking the bug out to the yard to throw him in the grass, he proceeded to search for another one. Thankfully, news had spread to the Rolly Polly community and they all went immediately into hiding when they saw him coming.

Geez I’m glad we’re getting a dog. I think this boy is waaaaaayyyy overdue.