Things aren't always what they seem

So I had a fresh (no pun intended) lesson on this truth yesterday from my son. I was sitting on the couch and he was playing with his room. From the other room he calls out to me "Mommy, there's a bug in my room!" To which I reply, "Well then squish it. Get something and smash it on the ground!" So my son comes in the living room and dutifully smashed the "Caterpillar" on the floor. [I though the bug he was referring to was a roach]. Then he comes over to me and as he's placing something into my hand says, "Mommy, here's a caterpillar." I look down and I'm holding a piece of poop. Cat poop to be specific. As I'm dry heaving my way to the bathroom, I pass a pile of smashed poop on the ground as well. (Those were my specific instructions to my son to smash the bug). I went from being so pleased with myself for teaching my son to face his fears, to being completely horrified at my lack of investigation before I gave advice. Presumption can be a very dangerous thing. (And sometimes creates quite a mess too.)