I see DEAD things

Hope no one has an aversion to dead things, because I have some stories to tell.

A few weeks back, the children found salamanders, caught them and made them a nice, wonderful home in a coffee container. The next day, we had to leave the house for an ALL day excursion and ALL of us had forgotten about the poor salamanders. It was 90 some degrees that day.

When we got home they were crispy and hard. Poor guys. I felt so bad. I tossed them out and then went inside and spoke to the kids. Something about the importance of not capturing wild animals if we couldn't take care of them properly. Stressing the importance of letting the animals go after we had enjoyed them a bit.

At first, Corynn was sad but after a brief moment, her face lit up. "HEY! Dead animals can be fun too! We could take their dead bodies and PAINT them!!!"

My eyes shot wide and my jaw dropped to the floor as my mind tried (in vain) to grasp what I had just heard.

What sort of a child am I raising that gets giggles from painting corpses?!?!? wow. I am worried. VERY worried.

Dead butterflies and moths are accumulating in our home, slowly and surely, and placed onto vases of flowers. They are already dead. They are still just as beautiful. And it beats paying for those queer little plastic ones in the store. Besides, never can you have such an upclose look at a real one... OK. Now I know where my weird children come from.

But even *I* wasn't prepared for this:

Corynn finding a dead bird, picking it up and gently placing it in a nest we had found and saved and proudly bringing it to me to show me.

When I gasped (loudly) she said "But Mama! It wasn't bleeding or anything!!!"

But now that I think about it...it was pretty weird of me to take a picture of it.

I guess apples don't fall too far from the tree.

BTW-you germiphobes out there will be pleased to know that I had my children wash up good afterward.