Friday, April 6, 2007

Of Mice and Mendy

The other night I made a batch of brownies. I was kind of in the mood for chocolate and I thought the kids would enjoy the treat the next day. So, I mixed them up and ate my fill of the delicious batter (actually-baked brownies are far less tempting to me than their near-liquid counterpart). Anyway, I pulled them out of the oven and just sat them on the stove before going to bed. The next morning I went into the kitchen with my children to discover our brownies had been ravaged in the night. The kids hadn't been downstairs yet, and although Michael does enjoy baked goods, he isn't known for scooping them out of the pan with his bare hands or teeth. I thought, "Great, we've got a mouse. EEK!" Of course, that night I went on a wild goose chase to find traps and even bought those ultrasonic pest repeller things that you plug into the outlets. Well, when I got home from the store Michael told me that while he had been reading in the living room, he heard a scratching noise and looked over and saw a mouse run up our couch and under the cushion! Could you die? I could! I ripped open the traps as fast as I could and went about setting them everywhere I could think that a mouse might run. A half hour later we heard the tell-tale snap. We investigated and discovered a mouse under the stove. Michael reported to me that it was still wiggling a little; we both felt bad. I really did feel for the poor little thing. I don't want to be a killer, but I just cannot cohabitate with rodents. I just can't. I prefer my mice in animated form, preferably altering a ball gown for a mistreated stepdaughter, you know what I mean? Anyway, fast forward a couple of days (and mice) and the saga continues. I took my kids to the zoo today (a promised Spring Break trip to the zoo is a promise --no matter the weather) and couldn't get out of the "Small Mammal House" fast enough. That place is full of rodents: naked mole rats, giant elephant shrews, etc. Just hearing Maia read the placards was enough to make my skin crawl. This whole mouse business just makes me feel...dirty. My house isn't that messy, is it? How can there be an entire family or colony or group or whatever-it's-called of mice living in my house without us even knowing? It totally has left a constant mildly nauseous feeling in my stomach. How will I ever know when they are all gone? HELP! Suddenly, I find myself longing for goats...

12 comments:

Corinne said...

I grew up with mice traps in the storage room - I have a distinct memory of watching one run from under my bed to under my dresser as a teen. totally traumatic. SO sorry you are dealing with that. It does NOT mean you are dirty - my mother is an impeccable housecleaner and we always had them. Who knows - maybe they can just tell how sweet you are :)

Mendy said...

Thanks for making me feel better, Corinne. I can't decide if I'd rather wake up to empty or full traps!

Jenni said...

It ate your brownies!! That's just not right!! I don't think its a reflection on you at all Mendy!! I think its just location really. My mom is the most perfectionistic housekeeper you'll ever meet and we had mice growing up too, which is also why we always had cats! :)

Melodie said...

Oh, Mendy! I feel your pain! I, too, have had some uninvited tenants in my house! I still have to patch a hole in Lydia's bedroom wall where I hacked away with a steak knife when I was trying to find one that died! Eww! Don't worry -- your house is always very clean. I guess mice are just a very unpleasant part of life!

Lynette said...

Ugghhh...yuck! Good luck getting those critters out...I feel for you!

Jeri said...

I am so sorry you have to deal with this. I hate mice...and squirrels, and ants!

We had mice in our laundry room last year. They really enjoyed our food storage! (GRR!)

Jann said...

There is nothing quite like the feeling when you realize you have mice. It is totally creepy. We got a cat, as I would rather have a pet cat than pet mice. You can borrow her if you like. She is really fantastic at getting the mice. We haven't seen one in our house for almost two years, and we have a very wooded area around our home. When I went to the pet adoption place to get a cat, there she was tearing into a play mouse, and I knew right then, she was the one for us. Good luck with this.

Unknown said...

yeah Mendy I am so glad you have a blog!!!! I am so sorry about the mice. I wouldn't sleep at night. I feel for you.

Cami said...

I HEAR YOU! About every 6 months we have to get rid of mice again. Um, once, no twice, I found the TOOTHPASTE in my food storage with little mousey tooth marks and holes. WHY?? Also, I watch as they scamper around in my kitchen and jump into tiny holes under the dishwasher. I can't stand it. I just don't think there is a thing I can do about it short of buying a cat, and no thanks. Plus, we're all just connected to other people, so no matter how clean we keep things, it's all the same to the mice.

Cami said...

ALSO, Jake is totally afraid of the snappy kind of mouse traps, and I refuse to deal with them at all. So every night during mouse-hunting time, Jake sets out the sticky traps. Then in the morning he goes down, puts the trap in a plastic bag (with the mouse stuck to it of course) and bangs with shovel until dead. It is the most horrible thing. The first time he told me he "hoped" it was dead, so I made him go out and check!! Poor little guy. But I have never yet seen a mouse ON one of our traps. THAT is what I call a good husband.

Julia said...

Eww! Mice! Yuck!

we had them at work for a while, when I was at JHU in Baltimore, and the guys at work would catch them and take them outside. Of course, then the mice would find their way back inside. Oh brother! I figure, if they come in my house, their lives are forfiet. Just like any other bug or rodent.

Kellie said...

Hi Mendy, that story is so great. Especially your concerned little nephew-more concerned for the goat! We are signed up to take many of my nieces and nephews. If all my siblings died at once, I'd have 15 more kids. I pray really hard every night for my brothers and sisters.

Quotation of the Month

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.

-Jill Churchill