Zapping Flies

During Zack's mission to Tahiti he developed a love for Electric Fly Swatters. So, when our home was overrun by 15 or so flies that had come in thanks to all our doors being open all day long for the movers on Friday, Zack took it upon himself to order us two. Why two?

Z: "One for me and one for Jack to play with"
A: "Excuse me, did you just say you were going to give my two year old a swatter that electrocutes things?"
Z: "Yeah, I figured he would want to play with it when he saw mine"
A: "And what if he touches it?"
Z: "Then he'll learn pretty quickly not to touch it again."

I think this conversation sums up the difference between moms and dads. I say, don't give him something he could electrocute himself with until he knows not to zap himself, Zack says give it to him and let him learn what it feels like to be zapped.

Man alive.

The fly swatters came in the mail today while Zack was at work. I decided that we would do it my way since I was the one at home and would have to deal with it if Jack got zapped. So I put batteries in mine and sure enough, just like Zack had predicted, Jack was on top of me asking me where his was and was delighted when I pulled his out of the box (which remained battery-less). We put on fly zapping music (Jack Johnson for anyone planning a similar time passing activity) and spent the next 45 minutes zapping and bopping flies. Pretty much it was gross, but I think there is only one crafty fly left in our home.



I worry (yeah go figure I worry) about how this activity teaches Jack about life and death and our hand in it (Yeah, I know). So I tried hard to explain that we only zap bugs in our home when Jack suggested we go outside and wage a war against any bug in our paths. They're all learning experiences right?