Me and the girls went to see a mammal show at a local environmental center. Vanessa sat on my lap, while Ella sat beside me. The zoo guy was really great - he was an obvious expert and kept the kids laughing and engaged with his jokes about his work with the creatures. As he was holding a skunk, he was talking about the way they lift their tail to spray their smell to protect themselves (I think that is why they do it, I don't know, i zoned out for a bit during the lesson and was instead focused on a fellow mom's wedge sandals). But he certainly got my attention when just as he mentioned how the spray comes out like a stream, he lifted up the skunk’s tail and something wet shot out at the three of us. Ella screamed, I hid behind Vanessa pretty much pushing her directly into the stream to protect myself. While it was just a prank with a water bottle under the skunk's tail to emulate a spray, I couldn't help but question the fact that I basically put my child in harm’s way to shield myself. Clearly I will be keeping me and my kids away from anything that might expose us to animals with attitude. From now on, we hit the mall, the movies or if it has to be a learning thing - a museum with stuffed animals only.
