Men or Little Boys?

I wonder some days if I'm married to a grown man or a 12 year old boy. I fish some of the strangest things out of my dear hubby's pockets when I do laundry. Sometimes it's a collection of rocks, other times, it'll be drill bits. This week; notes regarding work projects, 1/2 box of Zantac pills, a phillips driver bit, a lighter (he doesn't smoke), several pocket knives, grease zerks, and various pipe fittings. And I've only done laundry ONCE this week! I never, EVER reach into his pockets, I actually dump them out into a basket. I'm always afraid of what I'll find. On the upside, I *almost* have him cured of putting small creatures in his pockets. After 15 years, it's nice to know I've gained a little ground. Or at least I thought I had...

...but as I sit here writing this, he just walked in the house. With that boyish 12 year old gleam in his eyes he says, "wanna see what I found?". Geez, NOW what? There he stands with a small bull snake in one hand and a tarantula in the other, grinning from ear to ear. OK, the tarantula was in a jar, but still, it's a little creepy to have BOTH in your house at the same time.

Being a country girl and having farm animals, I really only have one rule regarding critters - if it's gonna come in the house, it's gotta have legs! I don't do the snake thing. I scolded him (yeah, like mom), and he took his little snake back outside. Waaaay outside, I hope! The tarantula can stay. I really don't mind them and K will LOVE taking it to preschool for show and tell. They're kind of interesting to keep...as long as they don't escape. At least now, I know how to catch them without having them jump up at you!

Now that I think about it, maybe I should go get the laundry started. If I get to it now, there's a possibility I won't find any snake skins or spider legs in his pockets. It's rubbing off on our daughter, though. Yes, I have to check her pockets, too. I see her walking around the yard with her jeans nearly falling down because she's got so many rocks stuffed in them. Maybe by the time she's 12, my hubby's inner self will have grown up a little, too, but I'm not holding my breath!