Lady Bug, Lady Bug Fly Away

The Ladybugs are back. My windows swarm with the small spotted red and black bugs. I used to think of them as good luck, until I moved up to the country. I used to blow them away and make a wish--now I vacuum them up, grumbling under my breath. They get everywhere and smell bad. My son, Tom used to eat them. No, I'm not joking. He's pluck them off the windows and hide them in his chubby toddler hands behind his back. "What are you hiding?" I'd ask trying to see what he was up to. He'd pop them into his mouth, show me his empty hands, swallow and show me an empty mouth that smelled like ladybugs. Luckily he has finally grown out of that strange quirk. When I see those pretty bugs, I smile and remember the smell of them on his breath and that guilty smirk.