If You Give a Mom a Container

If you give a mom a container, well, in some homes she might put left-overs in it.
In some homes she might collect paper clips and safety pins.
In other homes she may store coupons.

But in this home...
I was on my way out the door to get Matthew from school when Joshua ran up to me saying, "Mom, if I give you this container, will you catch grasshoppers for my snakes?"
Those of you who know me well won't be surprised. But those of you who are fairly new around here may not realize I have been known to allow my children to keep some, uh, atypical pets. Joshua has had various bugs, including a walking stick, several butterflies, large dragon flies, beetles, and some very cool praying mantids. (Mantiis? I have no idea what the plural is!!!)
Elizabeth has rats. (From the pet store, of course.)
Joshua's latest critters are snakes. He has two of them, in separate cages. One is a Red-belly Snake named Tawny, and the other is a Garter Snake, nameless.
The snakes like to eat grasshoppers. And since there are lots of grasshoppers along the path we walk to go to school, Joshua was hoping I would muster up some dinner for his new friends. (I became quite skilled at such hunts when he had the praying mantis.)
And I, wanting to be a cool mom, told him I would.
The first one was an easy catch. A nice big "juicy" one. Oh, I was so proud of myself. But as I continued along the sidewalk, although I saw many grasshoppers, I couldn't catch them. And I remembered Joshua saying something about them being fast this year.
He wasn't kidding.
Those little buggers were quick!
By the time I made it to school, I still only had that one big juicy guy. Was hoping he'd be enough for Mr. Snake.
Because even with Matthew's help on the way home, I just wasn't catching more. Until...when I was almost at the end of the sidewalk...I saw one and went after it.
But it jumped into the weeds.
So I followed.
And it jumped again.
But I kept after it.
Yes, the crazy lady you saw crouching in the weeds along Jolly Road? That was me!
And I prevailed. I caught that rascally grasshopper!
*Hmph!*

So there you have it.
If you give a mom a container, she'll fill it with grasshoppers for your snakes.

At least she'll try.