My three-year-old daughter is fascinated with bugs. She loves to read about them and look at pictures. Watch bug-themed movies. Observe insects outdoors (except when they bite her delicate skin).

She knows all kinds of interesting facts about insects, depending on your perspective. And whenever we encounter a bug, she will tell everyone in the vicinity the 411 on the creature in question. How many legs it has. What it eats. Whether or not it can fly…

The other day there was a large grasshopper by our garage door. As I was leaving to take her to speech therapy, I suggested hubby capture it and place it in her bug container, a recent purchase.

When we got home, Daddy told her he had a surprise. She literally gasped when she saw it. She was so excited. She called it her “pet.”

We explained that we could only keep the grasshopper for a little while. She (we all agreed it was a girl) would need to go back outside before bedtime.

My daughter declared it, “cute,” and announced the grasshopper would go everywhere with us that day. Her sense of wonder and excitement was so much fun to watch.

We drew pictures of the grasshopper. (Though she was not the best model; she would not stay still.) Took photos and video. We watched grasshopper shows on TV. The grasshopper was kind enough to defecate in the bug cage, so we got to talk about insect poop.

Finally, before dinner, my daughter announced it was time to release her pet back in to the “wild.” So we all went out in the front yard to bid it farewell.

That night I caught sight of a grasshopper on the window by our front door. I swear it was our “pet” trying to get back in…

Elizabeth blogs about her struggles and successes as a writer and a mom at The Writer Revived. She is the author of Cease Fire: A Call to End the War Between Women, which she is currently working to get published. In March 2011 she launched The Mom Pledge, an online campaign to eradicate cyber bullying among moms. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. She loves social media!