I do not like mice. Especially mice in my house. Because we live with a field in our backyard, they occasionally make their way into our home. Thankfully, they always go to the same location, under the sink, and are lured by a delectable taste of peanut butter on a trap.
In previous years, the mice have seemed to always come when Ryan was on a trip. When that happens, I buck up. In the need to protect myself and my children from small rodents, I get those mice at whatever the cost.
I ooze bravery.
I’ve caught a mouse by slapping a bowl over it. During The Mouse Incident of ’06, with the assistance of my 4-year-old, I trapped one under a giant tupperware container with mouse traps. (see Exhibit A)
But when Ryan is home, I turn in to a baby. A giant scaredy-cat. I don’t want to look at a mouse, take one out of a trap, or get anywhere near where I think they may be hiding out of fear that they will run over my feet. I want him to take care of it.
He had the opportunity on Friday.
It all began at 7:05 am when K-Fab ran into my bedroom. Ryan was out driving to his workplace, checking the roads because of a snowstorm. She barged into my room, “Mom, I heard a loud bang in the kitchen! I’m scared!”. I figured it was probably the mouse trap, so we cautiously made our way to the kitchen. She didn’t want to see it and I didn’t want to open the door, so we compromised: She stood as far away from the cabinet as she could to open it, and I stood in the middle of the kitchen to get the head on view of where we keep the trap – deep under the sink.
You can imagine the horror in my little 5 year old’s face as she opened the door slightly only to see the little mouse, front and center, peering right back up at her.
This terrorized her.
She slammed the door shut and began crying and hysterically screaming, “It’s alive! It’s alive!!”.
So I did what any protective, caring mother would do.
I grabbed her and we jumped up on the counter.
J-Money quietly walked out from his bedroom, having been awakened by the screaming. So I quickly told him there was a live mouse under the sink and instructed him to jump up on the counter, just to be safe.
Since we knew that the first trap had been set off, I grabbed another trap and quickly and stealthily shoved it into the other side of the cabinet. This took every ounce of bravery that I could conjure up.
The kids and I sat, as quiet as could be, up on the kitchen counter, only to hear little mouse squeaking and moving around. It was disturbing to hear, knowing there was a little rodent in my kitchen, roaming around under the sink… and there we sat, waiting for it to take the bait of the other trap.
Ryan returned home at this point, a good 40 minutes after K-Fab originally heard the first trap go off.
What you are about to see, I can’t say I’m proud of – I’m a wimp. But as we ventured as a family to catch that mouse (OK, it was mostly Ryan and the kids and I just held the video camera), the situation turned funny. I hope you enjoy the drama of our family getting rid of the mouse in our house.
Our Family vs. The Mouse (you may have to turn the volume up to hear Ryan’s comments well, but be warned – there may be a loud comment or two from me 🙂 )