“Look Mom! Can we keep
him...PLEASE!?!?”
This is probably the phrase I dread
most in life and I heard it again the other day.
All I wanted to do was check on the
weather. Some rain had come through and the air outside was surprisingly
cool. Not even a minute into my peaceful breaths of rain-scented,
cool air without the slightest feeling of humidity (a rarity for July
in Georgia), I heard it. “Quick,” I thought. “Just get the boy
inside the house before he can say it again or show his
brothers.” Nope, I was too late. Before the thought could race
through my mind, I was surrounded by pleas and bargaining offers to keep the lizard – A
LIZARD!! – for a pet. I can barely handle dogs and cats let alone
other typical *pets* … reptiles, insects, etc are out of the
question.
And it never fails – I only hear this
phrase when my husband (or any other man for that matter) is
completely out of sight and in no way able to help me. The last time
this happened I threw (yes, threw) a mason jar across the patio where
it proceeded to bounce three times before finally shattering all over
the place all because the tail touched my hand. My stomach turned as I faced that same situation again.
Of course I could always say no, but
it's just a lizard right? And my 3 boys need to be boys and do things
like catching lizards. Only, they aren't the ones that end up doing
the catching!!
After agreeing to capturing the lizard
for the boys and listening to my animal friendly middle child give us
a lesson on only keeping the lizard over night because “Lizards
should be free and live in the wild with their other lizard friends”,
I proceed to catch what appears to be a half-paralyzed, twitchy Blue
Skink that is just OH SO GROSS. I had to explain to the boys that
their new little friend didn't look so good and might be sick. Slimy,
as he was named didn't even make it through the night. I was totally
creeped out and exposed to having a lizard in the house just for him
to die. I'd say it was a waste of my adrenaline and at least 2 good
squeals—All in the name of raising boys, right. *sigh
In
other news … some of you moms will get this … others [God bless
you] will not...
I
was able to take an unexpected shower today! YAY ME!! There are just
some days when you know before the day begins, that you probably
won't get a shower that day and if you do manage to sneak one in, it
probably wont be until late in the evening. Today was one of those
days where I didn't expect it, but managed to work it in with minimal
brotherly love (um...fighting) while I did it. THAT MY FRIEND IS A
GOOD DAY.
