I Fed My Baby Ants

Now, that's not entirely true. Here's what happened...

We're over at my brother's house for dinner on a fine Sunday evening. The women are in the house swooning over my new nephew while my brother and I watch watch the kids in his backyard when my oldest son at 5 yells from around the corner of the house, "Look at all these ants!"

My nephew of 2 comes over at a trot, "Ants daddy! Ants!"

My younger son at 3 who missed the initial discovery due to his being overly interested in a box of cookies disappears around the same corner at a full run.

My brother and I exchange glances and he gets up to take a look. When he returns he reports that there is indeed a large collection of small black ants. Harmless. Oh, good. This will keep them entertained for a few minutes.

So the boys watch and prod as we get back to our conversation.

It's not until I hear my oldest exclaim, "Some got on this lid!" that the ill fated idea comes to me.

My daughter of not quite 1 is sitting at my feet quickly loosing interest in a toy. I figure that she might enjoy seeing a couple of ants.

"Bring the plate over here.", I say.

It arrives in the hands of my 3 year-old. The other children crowd around expecting some exotic grown-up addition to their excitement. I suppose they are not disappointed when I gently prod two small ants from the lid onto the back of my daughter's hand.

Now, I can't avoid admitting here (but only because there were witnesses) that I did mention something about her eating them. And I suppose I should have seen this coming. However, it was truly a bit of a surprise when her hand shot instantly and with near explosive power to her mouth.

There was a mixed reaction. My oldest son's face went pale as did that of my niece. The two younger boys faces lit up with eyes wide. My brother (though he may want to correct me out of self-preservation) gave a chuckle. I joined in with him.

I must continue with another admission. When I was young and my siblings were yet younger, we spent oodles of time in the yard and discovered several varieties of native edible plants and insects. Our favorite by far was the little round packets of 'green cheese' that grew on a low-lying weed at the corners of the lawn. And yes, several siblings ingested large numbers of little black ants

It is a fact, you know, that our culture is one of only very few that do not include insects in our diet.