Toddler stamped on spider

[Pugaboo]

I'm probably being ridiculous but...

The other day we were leaving the house and there was a spider outside our door. DS (20 mo) saw it and immediately stamped on it and killed it. I was surprised and a little bit upset tbh - I'm not a big fan on spiders but don't believe in killing any creatures unnecessarily and although I know he's probably too young to get it I told him that we don't stamp on insects on purpose.

AIBU to think this is learned behaviour, and not just something he randomly did? He never stamps on anything usually (except puddles).

Yes, it probably doesn't impact the child greatly either way as long as it's done to their level.

For me personally I don't like to tie myself up in too many knots when answering questions, I prefer to keep it simple and add to it as their understanding improves. I think you can be direct with the point you wish to make though right at the beginning ie the inherent rightness of not deliberately harming something that you have power to, because of the impact on the thing itself, and the impact on you having done it.

If I went down the 'its mummy and daddy would be sad' route I would likely lose my point somewhere in the invertebrate family tree, which I may have already done!

"In UK spiders cannot bite you..." This is not true - I have been bitten by a spider in the UK, when I was about 12, in our sitting room in suburban London - it bit me on my neck. It was very painful, like a wasp sting, and my neck swelled up for a while afterwards. Obviously it wasn't poisonous, and there was no real harm done, but there are spiders in the UK that are perfectly capable of piercing human skin.

Any spider can bite. Even daddy long legs.

Mosquitoes aren't poisonous, they also benefit the ecosystem in various ways. I expect all of you to never squish them.

I live in the US in an area where we have both the (rare) brown recluse and the wolf spider, which from a glance are hard to tell apart. We also have black widows and (rare) the hobo spider. I will not be teaching DD to gently try and "rescue" spiders, and more accurately I'll be teaching her to come get me or DH. We don't even squish them, we spray them with hair spray, then pick them up with a tissue and flush them down the toilet. She will learn that spiders in our house are killed, while spiders outside are to be left alone. I think that is a fair balance.

I do not want her to end up in the hospital because she made a kind hearted mistake.

That said, even harmless spiders are pests if they are in your house. Get bit by a non-venomous spider, see how much that hurts. Even if you choose not to kill them, they still need to be removed from the house.

Also, peppermint spray is a harmless way to deter spiders from your house, and it smells good. :)

Yep, we kill the trespassers.

For those who would only kill nits etc - where do you draw the line?

I'm not being snide, but slugs are destroying my plants right now. How can I solve it humanely? I had a huge aphid issue on my cherry blossom, I chose to save the tree rather than the bugs. I have a wasps nest in my porch, if it were bees someone would come and remove it and save them, but what option do I have? They have the potential to eat through the wall and window box.

Serious suggestions as to how to avoid killing them would be appreciated, but I don't think it exists. I think it's unrealistic to avoid killing everything unless it's for eating.

As long as my kids don't kill for no reason (e.g. Something in it's natural habitat doing no harm should be left alone), I'm happy to teach them to rid their homes from 'pests' (as in, annoying to me) by killing them.

Its not it's.

Why does the ipad always do that.

'Even MIL is being sweet at the moment'

Only 'at the moment' eh OP?

Tell us more...

I had to train DS not to stamp on ants,

This is one of the funniest things I've ever read on MN.

How do you manage to get from A to B in life without EVER treading on an Ant?
Do you have secret wings that we don't know about?

(You do realise that every time your foot touches the pavement, there are tiny ants and hundreds of other little insects roaming around.
It's IMPOSSIBLE not to step on them.)

You mass murder them everytime you set foot outside.

slithy - get a hedgehog. Slugs are a hedgehog delicacy :) Sometimes rescue centres look for safe places to rehome them.(hedgehogs not slugs)

I'd like to rent your toddler please! And soon. I'm under siege here!

My DC don't care that I'm distressed. They just leave the spiders or pick them up and bring them to me

Hiltler was a vegetarian

I absolutely teach my DD to stamp on spiders! I got annoyed with her school nursery for trying to show them as harmless cute things. They are not! And where I come from (where DD visits often enough) the little buggers can kill you

I will look into the hedgehog idea, thank you! How do you get them to stay in your garden?

As for the wasps, I am being very kind and waiting until winter when they will hopefully die out naturally. But then I am putting poison all over the entrance to that nest. Unfortunately I can't access the nest without taking the roof apart which id like to avoid.

I founds ducks were great for dealing with slugs and every bit of greenety in your garden.

I did that with a wasps nest a couple of times slithy.Apparently they don't always return to the same spot.Never did in my case.Did end up with a sting though -which ended up swollen because of allergy, then infected, and needing antibiotics.....

We did have a very close hornets nest dealt with last year though -because of forementioned allergy and the sheer number we were getting indoors.Nowhere near dying out time either.

If you adopt a hedgehog btw, you need good fencing or walls, and a hedgehog house.

MsUumellmahaye what a cretinous thing to say.

A hedgehog house sounds like the cutest thing ever.

Not so keen on a duck, sounds like a big commitment and we have cats.

Look at me getting all humane with nature!

will still be hoovering up spiders I can't reach in my house though

Usually if you profer a broom up you can get it to crawl on the bristles.
You have several seconds to make the door before the spider reaches your hand.

We had duck/cat combo -was fine.But, yes, ducks are an extreme undertaking for a slug problem, since the slugs will go but the ducks will eat your plants instead.Or trample them.Or sit on them.

Why? He was. If discussing links between being cruel to animals and being physcopathic.

Indeed, sorry, just find it fascinating this aspect of him.

I've never known what "the Hitler was a vegetarian" attack/defence is meant to prove.

That not killing spiders isn't the only indication of decent morals

uk.news.yahoo.com/british-woman-finds-eggs-world-most-poisonous-spider-100428634.html#qHFGChW

These little critters God's creatures are so cute!