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Original poster

How would you react if your child killed something?

151 replies

Twiglett · 26/04/2006 14:46

like a worm / snail / spider etc

on purpose?

(not my child btw)

OP posts:
Mirage · 26/04/2006 21:04

My strict vegetarian friend once shocked me by stopping mid conversation,picking a snail up off the garden wall,throwing it on the ground & stamping on it{shock}.I asked her how she could do that,her being into animal rights ect & she just laughed.

I kill slugs & snails as they eat my lovely veggies.They are the emissaries of Beelzebub in my book.

Passionflower · 26/04/2006 22:17

Creepy crawlies and other pests are fair game for a quick death imo. I'd only be worried if torture was going on.

Ants attempt to take over the house every summer so they get a merciless stamping and a squirt of creepy killer. Snails have killed one of my precious passifloras so they deffo receive no mercy, note to self must see about getting the nemowhatsits.

Harpsichordcarrier · 26/04/2006 22:20

god I really like squashing wasps
the summer dd1 was born we had a massive plague of them and I could get up to ten sitting outside eating lunch
and I am not a psychopath

Cadmum · 26/04/2006 22:29

Not too sure about the insect/spider/snail issues. I do encourage children to be kind to all living things though...

DNiece killed a kitten when she was 2 1/2. She squeezed it. I found this very distressing while SIL took it all in stride. I think that there are serious anger issues that have not been dealt with to this day. She is now 9.

Harpsichordcarrier · 26/04/2006 22:36

Shock Cadmum, god that's horrible
eeek.

hub2dee · 26/04/2006 22:52

Twig... 1) Have you received invite to mutual's tea 2) Am I right in what I'm thinking ?

LOL

cod · 26/04/2006 22:54

they say kiling an animal
i am sayiogn larger than beetle here
is highly symotimatic of psychosis

hub2dee · 26/04/2006 23:02

dd (9 1/2 months) is often next to me if I potter in the garden. Often I dig up worms which I show her. She thinks they are interesting. She tries to grab them but I won't let her. I know, given 'hands on' exposure, they'd be in her little mouth in three seconds flat, and that she'd gum it and swallow it, and probably quite like it.

Kind of innate 'man' IYSWIM. The natural caveperson.

Grin

**

Jimjamskeepingoffvaxthreads · 26/04/2006 23:21

cod isn't it killing animals. ie making a habit out of it and enjoying it. I know lots of people who have killed pets as children through sheer stupidity (letting the hamster out to play near the cat, playing with a dogs lead and strangling it, making a rabbit do jumps and then having it break legs, going on holiday and forgetting to feed a hamster for 6 weeks, dropping a tortoise). Or perhaps I have lots of psychopathic friends (think all of those was one case each iyswim- none mine!)

edam · 26/04/2006 23:36

yes I do know vegetables are sprayed to remove pests. But deliberately stamping on a snail is of a different order. It's deliberate, immediate cruelty.

soapbox · 26/04/2006 23:45

I'm afraid I actively encourage DS to kill spiders for me if DH is not aroundBlush

I wish it were different but I am incredibly phobic and it is the lesser of two evils afaiac.

He;s a lovely boy though - I don't think has developed any psycopathic tendancies yet!

VeniVidiVickiQV · 26/04/2006 23:49

DD has killed several spiders in the last week because she picks them up to "cuddle" them and squashes them Shock

I personally, have a slight arachnophobia so find her spider hugging loving quite distressing.....Blush

Whilst im secretly pleased they are dead, i have to feign upset at their demise and tell DD to be nice to the spiders and that they dont like being picked up.....

edam · 26/04/2006 23:51

Oh yuck VVV, that's horrid! I can well imagine it makes you squirm.

Mytwopenceworth · 26/04/2006 23:58

my reaction would depend on the circumstances, the motivation of my child and what they were getting out of it.

for example, if they came across an insect and were very young and didnt really know what it was, that it was alive, what 'alive' means or understand the idea of causing pain, then i would be quite laid back. i would take the opportunity to explain about living creatures (if i hadnt already), i would try to get them to put themselves in the creatures shoes (so to speak!!), and think about being hurt or scared.

If they were, say, pulling wings off a fly thru morbid curiosity, i would not be laid back, but wouldnt be booking a therapist, but i would want them to understand that they were causing pain and suffering and that they do not have that right, regardless of how 'unimportant' they view the creature.

If they were abusing a living creature because they knew what they were doing would cause it fear or pain and suffering, and they wanted to see this, or rather, enjoy this - then i would be horrified and it would be time for some major action. I would seek professional help.

you see? depends on the whys and wherefores, not really a 'one size fits all' type of response!

ghosty · 26/04/2006 23:59

DS was just 2 when we first moved to NZ and was fascinated by a beautiful preying mantis that was in the house ... the pm was around for days and it was a great game finding out where he was in the morning.
Anyway, one day we found the preying mantis on the floor ... DS bent down to look at him and then stood up and stamped on him Shock ...
I was horrified but clearly DS had absolutely no concept of what he had done or even what 'dead' meant ... so I told him that that was a terrible thing to do and now the preying mantis had gone to heaven and his family wouldn't know where he was Sad. DS didn't know what heaven was but understood about his family not knowing where he would be ... he took it all in very seriously and has never knowingly killed an insect since ...
If (now he is 6) I found out he had killed something on purpose I would be livid.

Cadmum · 27/04/2006 00:18

Cod and Harpsichordcarrier: To the best of my knowledge, she has never harmed another animal but I doubt that SIL woul tell me if she did after my initial reaction to the kitten.

nightowl · 27/04/2006 01:39

i would be disappointed if it was an insect, horrified if it was anything larger. but delving deeper maybe i am a hypocrite. if i get a fly in my house, i kill it (dirty) and the same with a wasp (scared it will sting one of the kids). so i tell them that they shouldnt kill any living thing but then i do it myself. i only kill wasps and flies though.....

hannahsaunt · 27/04/2006 03:37

The boys are allowed to kill mozzies any time on the basis that the mozzies are harmful to them (dengue and all that here) and sometimes help vacuum the legions of ants that parade through the house on a regular basis in search of that elusive tiny splash of juice I missed wiping up.

However, they are not allowed to kill insects outwith the house as we are then in the natural habitat of said insects and thus are the invaders rather than the invadees (if that's a word) IYSWIM.

Nothing else can be killed. I don't tolerate any form of play that involves killing/shooting/wounding etc.

Twiglett · 27/04/2006 07:04

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Original poster
Twiglett · 27/04/2006 07:05

re 1) we are spending sat with them though ... and today too actually .. pop in to say hi on sun

OP posts:
hub2dee · 27/04/2006 07:23
  1. Pants. Just turn up - you have the keys. Grin 2) Hmmm.
hub2dee · 27/04/2006 07:26

DW thinks she might have the day wrong. Is there a birthday party on the Sat, Twig ? Not sure if we were offered the 'avoid young child's birthday party' ticket (ie come the next day) or the 'do come' ticket...

Original poster
Twiglett · 27/04/2006 07:50

..you're coming on sunday .. I know more than you do Grin

have emailed you .. but to hotmail addy

OP posts:
hub2dee · 27/04/2006 07:56

Oh, I see. Thank you. I've always wanted a PA.

You mean my hotmale addy ?

Wink
Original poster
Twiglett · 27/04/2006 08:07

yes A's party on Sat ..

OP posts:
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