The Cricket

Today, at the park, the six year old caught a very large cricket and his day became the best day ever. His face shone with pride. And thanks to "Cricket in Times Square" he was determined to buy a cricket cage. Realize that Nathan has kept several caterpillars and random bugs found in the great outdoors and all to the same end... death... and tears. I pictured him waking up the next morning to a dead cricket and I also determined to buy a cricket cage. Well, the constant talk of this darn cricket and his cage played a part as well as he wore away at my desire to keep to budget.
So, in this Christmas season of much money leaving the bank account and not much entering, we headed out to the pet store. Nathan literally ran to the first associate he saw, shoved the covered McDonald's coffee cup in her face, and said he needed a cricket cage for his new cricket. While I was half expecting her to sweetly laugh him off with, "Honey, no body keeps crickets as pets," they, of course, had a whole section dedicated to cricket cages and food and water.
Twenty six dollars later we're getting bagged up and the cashier says, "Oh, that's a good looking cricket. Who are you feeding him to?" Nathan was bewildered. She smartly changed the topic to possible names for crickets.
While I feel bad feeding the cricket highly processed food filled with food dyes, which I found odd, I do hope he makes it through the night.
When Brad walked in to a house ringing with sounds of "Robin Hood" playing on Netflix and the high chirping of a cricket, he looked at me puzzling. When he said the whole get-up our "free" insect was outfitted with his look of curiosity turned eyebrows lifted and a look that screamed, "Have we not talked about needs and extras?" Hey, it walked a thin line of "need" to save the spirit of a hopeful six year old and "extra" as that was the most expensive park date I've had in a while.
Thankfully my husband leads a life of grace and the cricket is a welcomed, and very loud, member of the family. And he better make it through the night!