Easiest Pet Ever

Ladybugs. They're cute, non-threatening to a kid who's getting a little afraid of bees and spiders (I have no idea where he gets that from), and they eat up to 50 common garden pests a day! Plus, at $7.50 plus tax for 1,500, how can you go wrong?

We bought a container of little ladies at a local garden store. At first, bubs was not so interested. The ladybugs were fresh out of the refrigerator and in serious hibernation mode. But then we walked outside into the 80 degree heat and BOOM they were awake! They crawled over each other, making mounds out of their small speckled bodies, to reach the ventilation holes punched in the top of the container. Elan was fascinated. He held the container and stared raptly all the way home.

That night, before I put the ladies to bed in the fridge for the night, I held the container up to my ear and listened to the little pit-pat of 1,500 tiny bodies in motion. A sound like miniature raindrops.

Now if I can just keep them alive until we get around to releasing them in the garden...