The Roach

This morning my youngest daughter was looking at a book with a picture of a colorful beetle. It reminded me of something from several years ago. I'm not sure where I got them, but when I was still living at home, somehow I acquired 2 very realistic looking rubber cockroaches. When I was a kid I startled my Mom with them a couple of times. She had a certain kind of ice cream she especially liked. One day I put one of the rubber cockroaches in the small tub of ice cream. I think it was one of those small Ben & Jerry packs, or something like that. When she opened the lid, out popped the cockroach. It was great fun, as I have rarely heard my Mom scream. She got me back though... one day she stuck the rubber cockroach up into the faucet of the bathtub, so when I turned on the water, the roach came out with the gush of water, giving it the appearance of swimming for its life. The favor was returned; Mom got to hear me scream.

Recently when I was going through a box of memorabilia from my childhood, I came across the rubber cockroaches. I stuck them away for just the right moment. Today that moment came.

When my daughter was examining the colorful beetle in her book, I rather nonchalantly mentioned I had a cockroach. Both girls were instantly interested; Really? Can we see it? What's its name? How come we've never seen it before? I told them when I was finished with my coffee, I'd show them my cockroach. But be forewarned, he doesn't like being out in the light, and he gets nervous around people. My kids couldn't believe I'd have a pet cockroach, and my oldest was very skeptical. They could hardly wait for me to finish my coffee. Then I went into my room and shut the door. I cupped the rubber cockroach in one hand and covered him with the other. Then I went out into the living room. Both girls were very interested to see the cockroach. I gingerly opened my hands just enough for them to get a glimpse, then quickly covered him again. My youngest was a little nervous, but my oldest said, "That can't be real!" I told them he was tickling my hands because he was moving around. Then I pushed his head out between my fingers with my thumb, and both girls screamed. "It's real!" I was having great fun with this. I don't normally play pranks on my children, but this time it was just too fun. After this I let the cockroach "jump" out of my hands, towards the girls. My husband had the camera and was recording, so I thought I'd share the resulting video. Hopefully I don't appear mean for doing this, as it was all in fun. And after it was over, my girls were able to laugh about it. They loved watching the video, too. And I eventually let them know this was not a real live cockroach. :-) Enjoy the video!

Edit - I've decided to remove this video due to a couple of "visitors" that have left me a bit uncomfortable. I think I will have to rethink posting videos in the future, especially when they deal with my kids. I am a Momma Bear, and protecting my children is my highest priority. :-) The visits in question are probably completely innocent, but I've decided it's best to err on the side of caution.