The Richest of Fare

And so the Worm Fun continues.  We have discovered worm after worm on our playground these past few days, an accomplishment that thrills our worm lovers to no end.  Of course, I am beginning to suspect that the multitude of worms is coming not from rain, but instead from the moisture that is coming from the sprinklers that apparently have been running every single night in an attempt to grow in a large bare patch on the playground.  As far as I can see, no grass is coming from this moisture - just lots and lots (and lots) of mud.  And in my opinion, a large bare patch on the playground is much less evil than mud everywhere.

Anyway.  Every day one of us sits with the kids and digs for worms.  Well, one of two of us dig for worms.  One of my coworkers has so far shown no interest at all in digging for worms.  And that's okay.  She's more into Duck, Duck, Goose, and other those organized games that I have no interest in leading.  And that seems to work out just fine.

In the face of so many worms, we have had to instill some Worm Care Rules.  In fact, we've had to extend our rules beyond "We do not clutch the worms tightly in our hot little hands" and "We do not put the worms in our lunchboxes".   Now we have the "We just let the worms wiggle as they please around in our hands or in our cups - we do not pick them up with our fingers and stretch them out to see how big they can get."   Along with this we have the "We do not deafen the worms by yelling at them"  rule. Yes, I have one little girl who seems to have a fascination/repulsion relationship with the little guys.  She will hold them, but mainly she likes to put them in her little plastic teacup (a sand toy) and watch them.  And when they do something she doesn't like, she yells at them.  She'll lean over so her mouth is right by the top of the cup and yell at the top of her voice:  "HEY!  WORMS!  HEY, CUT THAT OUT!"  And then she'll lean back and look in sweetly to see if they have cooperated.  But alas, they have not.  Because if those worms had ears to begin with, they are now completely hearing impaired.

Fortunately, these Worm Care Rules have cut down on any overt worm abuse and hopefully will keep the SPCW off of our backs.  Which is a good thing, because I imagine that our Worm Fun is going to stretch (no pun intended) far into the days ahead.