Creepy Crawlies

Earlier this summer I released about 400 teeny tiny preying mantis babies in my garden. Actually, it was more like dumping them quickly out of the sack before they cannibalized each other and before I had to touch any of them. That I was alone at the time also accounts for the fact that I have no photos of the release.
I literally dumped and ran.
While I can appreciate insects and their importance in the ecosystem, please, please, don't make me touch them!
One of the recurring nightmares of my childhood involved waking up and being completely surrounded - floor, walls, ceiling - by worms. Writhing, wriggling, earthy-smelling worms. There was no escape. Thirty-some years and four children later, I'm much better about insects - and worms - than I ever thought I'd be.
The girls and I also released about a billion lady bugs in the garden - the good kind, not the invading evil imposters.

My daughters were there to protect me for this release, which is why I have pictures (taken by Melissa, not me. I couldn't get that close).

I bought the egg cases to improve the natural predation in my garden. While we didn't have any particularly grave insect issues this year, we only spotted a couple of lady bugs in our yard throughout the season. The preying mantids just seemed to disappear, though we did see one a block or so away while on a walk. I was kind of hoping they'd stick around.
Knowing the extent of my insect abhorrence, okay, let's call it phobia, I've worked hard through the years not to pass this fear on to my kids, with admittedly mixed results.

We've had meal worms as pets, walking sticks, preying mantids, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and wolf spiders. We've even been stewards of millipedes, both native and giant.

Wasn't that a nice gift from her Grandma and Grandpa?

Fortuately, we've passed the "keeping insects as pets stage." And I haven't passed on my phobia for all things creepy-creepy crawly in its entirety, though Melissa can't stand centipedes and Sarah freaks out for spiders.

We'll all stop to watch an interesting insect and marvel at their adaptations.

Just don't make me touch one.

Please.