#YikesABug Is Definitely What I Said Last Week!

I love my son! But, I will admit that sometimes, just sometimes, I struggle being a Mom to a boy! I don’t love getting dirty and I don’t love rocks, sticks, bugs and creatures. I’m not suggesting that all boys do either, but mine certainly does. I’m just bracing myself for the first time that I discover he has brought something LIVE in the house to show me.

A few weeks ago, Fall had definitely hit our neighbourhood. The trees were starting to turn colour and the acorns were falling off of the trees.

My son was enjoying collecting acorns every day on our walks and he was SO excited to have found them that he started an acorn collection! Well, naturally, he wanted to bring this collection inside the house. At first, I said NO! But, after a few days (and him bugging me!), I came to the conclusion that I was being too much like a “control Mommy” and I needed to let it go. So, I allowed him to bring in the acorn collection.

He was happy.
I was proud (of myself and him).

That night, hubby used one of my son’s building/connecting toys to create a special acorn box so that he wouldn’t lose any of his precious acorns. Thank goodness!

All was good with the world.

UNTIL……

One morning (VERY early morning), my son couldn’t sleep and I was getting some blog work done on the computer. He wanted to pull out his duplo bin, but was struggling. Thankfully, he asked for help because when I went to help him, what did I discover on top of the bin?!

I collected a few in this blue bowl for the purpose of a picture. Ewww….All I have to say is thank goodness they were dead! I jumped back at first and bit my tongue so that I didn’t squeal or scream. I spent the next hour dumping every toy bin making sure we had found them all. The item that had been sitting on that bin was the acorn “box” that my hubby had made and when I opened it, I found more dead maggots and acorns with holes.

We are now going back to the “no nature in the house” rule and I feel good about it.

Maggots aren’t the only critter I have had to deal with this past month!

A couple of weeks ago, the kids were playing in the backyard while I was tidying up from dinner. I noticed that the kids were squatting down in the grass, looking at something.

This is when my Mommy radar went off! What were they looking at so carefully and why was my son poking at it?!

Well, my friends, they had found a sweet, little critter……

I only wish it looked like this one! Nope! The one they found was dead. I tried my best not react as I sent my children into the house to wash scrub their hands and I called for my husband. He brought bags, I used the shovel and we disposed of the poor, little thing. Why did I have the shovel?! Because I was too paranoid at the thought of my husband trying to play a cruel joke on me (not that he would) and pretend to throw the dead mouse at me. I was squeamish and I had a difficult time getting the thought of the disgusting dead mouse in my backyard out of my head for days to come. And not that this particular incident was my son’s doing, because it wasn’t. But, it made me realize that I had better watch my reactions to this type of thing or I might be in trouble one day.

I hope I won’t need to, but I know that there is a place that I can go to learn more about various pests…..

PestWorld.org is your go-to resource for everything you need to know about bugs, rodents and other household pests. You can identify your infestation, find helpful prevention tips, pest photography and videos, educational articles on a variety of pest topics, and more.

In the fall, pests often enter our homes seeking shelter from colder weather, so it’s important to take steps to pest-proof your home. Pest issues are better handled by licensed pest professionals. They have the knowledge, training and tools to properly identify a pest species and recommend ways to safely remedy an infestation before it becomes a serious problem.

You can find a pest professional in your area by entering your postal code in the Find a Pro database on PestWorld.org: http://www.pestworld.org/find-a-pest-control-professional/.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of National Pest Management Association. The opinions and text are all mine.