Not what I'd expected

I opened mail yesterday.

I slit open a padded envelope and saw that it contained a letter, and a large tube.  

The tube was curious, so I turned it over in my palm.  It was clear, with what looked like black squiggles inside.

I'm nearsighted, so I took off my glasses and held the tube right in front of my eyes to get a better look.

I nearly dropped it.

Inside the tube were ANTS.

Dozens of them, big harvester ants, crawling over each other.

They were the mail-away ants that belonged to Xander's ant farm, that he had gotten as a birthday gift from a classmate.

I.  WAS. NOT. PREPARED. TO. HOLD. ANTS. IN. MY. PALM.

The ant farm lights up, so the huge squirming ants are now magnified onto the ceiling in the kids' room.

Xander loves it.

We read about ants and snakes at bedtime.

I. WAS. NOT. PREPARED. FOR. THIS. CHILD.