Katie and the Pider

Allow me to set the scene:

I'm putting Katie to bed and we've concluded our books. Next, we rock for about 10 minutes while I sing songs or talk to Katie. We often open the blinds and look outside, an attempt to get Katie to sit still and relax before bed. Katie notes any activity -- "Car! Wook, Mommy, car!"-- and we try to wind down. A couple of nights ago, we realized that a spider had made its web outside Katie's window. He looks like the spider pictured here.

And now we go to Katie's room, earlier this evening, after books have been read.

"Wan see 'pider." I open the blinds.

"There it is. It's just hanging out on its web."

"Oh." As if this is a very profound revelation.

"What's your spider's name, Katie?"

"Canny!" Translation: Candy.

"So you're spider's a girl?"

"No!"

"Is your spider a boy or a girl?"

"It's a daddy 'pider!" Katie says everything in exclamation points.

"So it's a boy spider named Candy?"

"No, Fwankwin!" (Franklin).

"You're spider's name is Franklin?"

"Yes!"

A pause while we bask in the spidery glory that is Franklin. Tired of looking at the spider, I slowly sit back in the rocking chair, taking Franklin out of view.

"Wan' see my 'pider!"

We continue to gaze at Katie's spider. He is quite a handsome arachnid, as 'piders go, I suppose. Nice coloration, remarkable ability to stay still and the web is quite lovely. My mind begins to wander and I think about how often a spider has to score a "kill" so it doesn't starve to death. Do they have taste preferences? Hmmm....

Katie breaks my reverie with, "Wan give 'pider hug!" I explain that he's too small to hug. I've learned to keep it simple with the explanations. There's plenty of time later to explain the details of human-spider relations and my general "No spider hugging" policy.

But our contemplation of Franklin has to come to an end. I put Katie to bed with the normal rituals. I put her in her crib. She says, "Mommy hug!" After a hug and kiss, I say good night. She says, "Wub you, Mommy" and then "Bye!"

It's probably not a big deal to anyone besides Jerome and I but Katie's never named anything and I like that she likes the spider and doesn't seem afraid of it. As long as she doesn't hug him...