I warned him

I noticed this little guy as I was pulling out of my driveway one morning

I stopped, snapped a picture and suggested he may want to get away now

He stubbornly held on to that mirror my whole drive

     all 6 minutes of it: yay for a short commute

Well, congrats!

Hope you enjoyed the ride

Cause now we're gonna go play with some toddlers

Bwah ha ha

Parked my car and began wondering how I could get him in the building

     cause you know touching it would not be an option

Yay for a slight tendency to live out of my car 

     and finding an old coffee cup in the back seat

After a bit of shrieking, jumping and perhaps dropping him on the ground

It worked!

We made it in the door

     and it was fabulous

45 minutes of watching and wondering and examining with magnifying glasses
Noticing his eyes, his legs, his tiny mouth
Hypothesizing as to how he can walk on a stick upside down
Wondering why he keeps walking away from us and back towards the teacher
     I dunno toddlers, maybe because you are so excited you keep shouting at him
     Hi Praying Mantis!  Come here!  Wanna see my magnifying glass?!?!
     I think he's just a bit terrified

I love being the teacher who takes advantage of ordinary moments like this
I love my kiddos and their burgeoning self awareness and experimentation with friend making
     and introducing themselves to the praying mantis  "Hi I'm Susie!"
     and wondering why he didn't respond
     and then speculating as to the last name before naming it after a favorite friend