I’m sure you all have heard the phrase “try looking at the world through the eyes of a child”. Well, I personally never put any thought into those words until yesterday. My 3-year-old daughter changed my perspective, and cured a lifelong fear with just four words. (Mommy, don’t kill Charlotte.)

I was loading the dishwasher when my little cutie yelled, “Mom, a bug, a bug”! I grabbed a paper towel and met her at the front door. As soon as she saw the paper towel, she put her little hand out to cover a small black spider and said, “Mommy, don’t kill Charlotte”. “She is my friend”.  Well, there you have it friends, I bought Charlotte’s Web for Easter and turned my babe into an arachnid enthusiast.

Trying to explain that not all spiders are nice like Charlotte was futile. I did manage to convince her that we can be nice to spiders, but they may not live in our house. I scooped “Charlotte” up and flung her out the door, as kindly as possible. We then sat on the step and talked to good ol’ spidey while she looked for her “family”.

Yeah, I know, I’ve totally lost my shit! One thing struck me though, the spider didn’t freak me out. I didn’t even flinch when picking it up. Spiders have ALWAYS given me chills, and here I was chatting it up with this little 8 legged asshole. Crazy right?

Anyways, point of the story, it’s amazing how children change us. Parents are usually easing their children’s fears, but sometimes they ease ours. My sensitive little girl saved a spider’s life yesterday, I think she also saved part of my soul.