Charlotte's Mealworms

Arriving at Charlotte’s after-school care, I walked upstairs, asked Tig to grab her gear, and signed her out on the clipboard – just like we do every other school day. Just like every other school day, Charlotte responded by turning a couple cartwheels, hugging all of her friends goodbye, then running off to use the washroom… again!

Finally, she presents herself with her backpack on and her arms filled with all the usual stuff she couldn’t stuff into her ginormous backpack.

I put my hand on her head and asked, “Got everything, Tig?”

“Yep. Nope. Wait. I forgot my mealworms…”

Bag dumped on the floor.

Lunch bag and hoody dumped on top.

One more cartwheel, just for good measure.

Another five-minute wait as Charlotte collects a small plastic container from the windowsill, and returns with it cupped between her hands. Inside, was a small collection of small black beetles, oatmeal, and dried up slices of apple.

“Wow, what do you have in there, buddy?” I asked.

“They’re our mealworms. We growed them at school.”

“… ‘grew’ them at school …”

“Yeah, right. What you said.”

“So, what are your plans for these guys now?”

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. Our teacher told us we had to take them home now.”

“Do you want to keep them, or let them go?”

“I think we should let them go. They aren’t moving very much anymore.”

“Righto. Let’s do it!”

Descending the stairs of the Canoe Club, we found a nice-looking spot in the garden outside. Carefully, Charlotte removed the lid from the container and emptied the contents into the garden, before arranging the oatmeal and dried slices of apple just so, to ensure the beetles felt right at home.

“Well done, buddy. I think they’ll be happy there, don’t you?”

“Umm, maybe they would be happier if those ants weren’t attacking them …”

“Oh, right. Good call.”

Using a popsicle stick, we quickly gathered up the confused and dehydrated insects and extracted them from their predicament with a laugh at how clueless we both were as to what a mealworm really needs to live a successful life outdoors.

“C’mon,” I said. “I think I seen another spot over there that they might like - let’s try this again.”