It is not an understatement to say that my son is in to bugs. Especially so the pill bug, or ダンゴムシ (dangomushi) as it is called in Japanese. It started a year or so ago when they were searching for insects and bugs at kindergarten. My son came home and talked very vividly about dangomushi and showed me how they roll up like a porcupine when you touch them lightly. The past year we have looked at encyclopedic-style books about dangomushi, seen videos about dangomushi, and read stories featuring dangomushi. Lately though, as spring has turned into summer and dangomushi can be found almost everywhere, the interest has deepened to the point where I have tried to include dangomushi in our daily time schedule.
Early mornings are already hot now, and it is even hotter when it is time to leave home around nine o’clock. On our walk to the kindergarten bus, we pass under some trees that provides a cooling shade, and there my son likes to stop and look for dangomushi. He collects them carefully, lets them climb around on his hands, shows me how many he has caught – absorbed in his study of dangomushi he forgets all about the bus, and not even repeated reminders that if we do not leave no we will miss the bus, can make him want to let go of his dangomushi. I have made us leave a little earlier than usual so that he can play a bit more and we can avoid the stress, but it has been less than successful (the avoiding stress part). My son wants to bring his dangomushi to the bus and it always takes quite some discussion before they are back on ground and we find ourselves grumpily running towards the bus. But when the bus comes and he sees his friends, my son becomes his normal excited self again. He knows that as soon as the bus arrives at the kindergarten, he will start searching for dangomushi together with his friends. Oh happy kindergarten life.
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