Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

There has been a nice light rain falling on us almost all day today.

This morning my little girl, Liz (not her real name), found the most amazing moth outside in our flower garden. Most moths look fuzzy and triangular, this one looks like a fighter jet, it has the most streamlined body and wing shape I've ever seen. It is just beautiful, but I haven't had any luck identifying it.

Well, this particular moth must be injured or is at the end of it's life because it has been sitting in the same place for over six hours now. Maybe it will perk up when the sun goes down tonight, I hope so. However, in the meantime we have used the opportunity to study and learn about moths. Tons of fun.

Liz has also built a shelter over the moth to keep the rain from soaking its wings. She put a napkin on the ground for it to dry itself on, picked some flowers for it to eat and put a soda bottle lid filled with water for it to drink. If she could find moth-sized furniture I'm sure she would furnish the moth apartment. I admire her concern for the creature, she has such a good heart.

My little girl doesn't go to preschool or mother's day out. Most of the really good programs around here are affiliated with churches. Even those unaffiliated with a church organization, like Kids R Kids or Primrose, have prayer before their lunch break. I have no intention of hiding religion from my child, but I don't want her being indoctrinated when I'm not around during a period of her life when she is too young to think critically about what she is being told.

So, I take advantage of things like our friend the moth. I use them as teaching tools to help her learn about the fascinating world she lives in. It works for us.