I intended to write about my fabulous day yesterday. How it more than made up for the time-out marathon that was Monday. How I was subjected to NO children’s television because Elliot was too busy playing with her birthday loot to turn it on. We did puzzles. We cut play-doh hair for hours. We discovered the joys of Moon Sand (that stuff is brilliant).
Adding to my maternal bliss yesterday was the fact that Elliot had preschool in the morning. So, my usual quiet-time deprived self enjoyed an hour and a half of silence (which is sheer heaven to a mama whose kid hasn’t napped since the age of one). So, to summarize: Compliant, non-TV zombie child. Time to self. Lots of laughs. Perfect day, right?
Yes, it was. Until about 7pm when I saw a mouse dash behind the couch. Gah!
We live in an old house, but have never had mice. Or as Jay so kindly pointed out to me, “You’ve probably always lived in houses with mouses. You’ve just never actually seen them.” Great. Thanks for that, honey.
Because I’m such a girl and am absolutely creeped out by mice, Elliot tried to assist Jay in catching the little critter. That’s right, my three-year-old daughter bravely stuck a broom under the couch trying to flush it out into a box her dad was holding, while her chicken shit mother sat paralyzed on the rocker with her feet on the ottoman.
Elliot told me, “It’s okay, mama. Mouse is nice.” She is only familiar with mice through Cinderella. I didn’t want to break it to her that this mouse probably had zero dress-making skills and that she may not have a classy mouse-made gown to wear when meeting the prince at the royal ball.
Sadly, their attempts to catch the mouse were unsuccessful. I had a shitty sleep as I kept imagining the mouse in my bed. And I’ve been darting from room to room like a paranoid madman this morning, certain that at any moment the mouse will dart out from a dark corner and run over my feet (or EEK - up my pant leg).
Tonight Jay is going to set up traps. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be avoiding my home for the remainder of the day and while I’m here, I’ll be skateboarding from room to room. Please cross your fingers for me that it is a “mouse” and not “mice”. If only they were as cute and talented as the cartoons would have me believe, this wouldn’t be an issue.
I’ll bet Elliot was helping so she could save it and keep it as a pet… that’s what my daughter would have done.
Perhaps you need a cat? With three cats and a dog, a mouse wouldn’t stand a chance in our house….
Yikes! I had “mice” in the last house.. lots of them. I think we caught about 16 in total? that was in the garage though, we moved before we could find anymore… lol
I am the same as you, I hate them and squirm everytime I think about them. Good luck!
They’re cute — in a cage, not scampering about freely. I don’t blame you a bit.
Good luck with your house guest. I waffle between paralysis and the need to act quickly and kill in the face of small creatures. I’ll be thinking of you! (Elliot, you are a very brave girl. You protect your Mommy, ok?)
Wow. At least it was a fabulous day up till that point. Sympathies!
We had mice in our last house and found that putting peanut butter on the trap works like magic. Good luck!
Well, you still had a great day. It was the evening that went downhill. lol.
And yes, moon sand totally rocks…..
YIKES! Me no likey the mousey either!
We get frogs and lizards - wanna swap?
Dude, when we lived with Jackie and Ramsey, there were mice. Plural. They crawled in the walls next to our heads while we slept. We set traps, but they were too smart and stole the bait from the traps without setting them off! Oh well, I’m just glad that they weren’t rats.
Oh, and we tried PB. They licked it off and ran away unharmed.
When the scare is all over and the mouse is dead, or captured, remind me I have a mouse story for you.
I had this vision of you skateboarding from room to room while breastfeeding Arlo and wielding a broom for extra protection.
And hope Elliott wrangles you up a mouse.
I’d be skateboarding right along with you, babe.
My condolences.
I’m sorry to be laughing at your predicament, but it’s funny when it isn’t your house, or mouse. We had one in an apartment once and it does creep you out a bit. Hope you catch it soon!
“Zero dressmaking skills.” What a disappointment!
I’ve wanted to try out moon sand. Wonderful you say?
Ack!
If that were my house, Payton would get all Steve Irwin on me and talk sweet to it until it came out, then carry it outside.
All the while I’m cleaning the sh*t out of my pants.
Oh boy, I’ve been there before. I’m the same way, I don’t like touching the floor. But it may have been worse when I had to clean up all the droppings in the back of our closets. Apparently it was spending it’s time browsing our clothes. The good news is we caught it and didn’t have any more problems (and that was years ago). The bad news it my husband forgot to check the traps one morning, and I found it. Yuck. I don’t know what’s worse- a mouse loose in the house somewhere, or knowing there is a dead mouse in a trap in a closet. Eww.
Remind me to tell you about your great uncle’s research with mice. Caged ones of course.
yikes. mice give me the willies. i would likely have to move.
Time for a cat. But then, the cat would proudly present you with dead mice.
Ewwwwww!!!! I feel your pain. I have so many frightening creatures here in Alabama, they all creep me out.
i seriously doubt the mouse has any intention of running up your pant leg. more scared of us that we are them, yada, yada.
but i did laugh at ‘zero dress making skills’
Been there, sista…couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t do a doggone thing until those little suckers were gone!
I feel for you!
Let me tell you about my Rat, Mice and Shrew stories! Or maybe I should just tell Elliott - I think she might appreciate them more, because she will just think that they are “stories”
Maureen - We did the cat thing, but he became a pain, so we gave him away. Also, he was incapable of catching mice. Now I’m almost tempted to get another one, though.
Annie - Ew. I’m all about keeping the outdoors out where it belongs.
Heather - If another one gets into the house, I’m borrowing Payton.
megachick - I kept telling myself that very thing “more scared of me than I am of them”. Sadly, I couldn’t convince myself that it was true.
Teri- That’s quite a picture. Ha ha.
Kips - I kept thinking about you and what a wimp I was as I knew you had rats. Ugh - Yay for Rat Free Alberta! I was, however, unaware of the shrews. You must tell me that story sometime.
[...] make me shudder just thinking about them. I naively thought we’d obliterated all of our mice in October, but now we have [...]