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Mosquito Control

 

MOM!!  MOM!!

 

What?? WHAT??  What’s wrong??  I burst into the bathroom looking rather Kramer-ish.

 

Mom!!

 

So?  What’s wrong?  Here I am, what’s wrong?

 

There’s something in the bath water!

 

Where?  Exasperatedly, I look over the crystal clear water, seeing nothing but a Jack Stone Lego character in a Lego speed boat and a white wash cloth.

 

There.  He points next to him, four inches away.

 

I see a tiny speck.

 

Yeah?  Get over it, it looks like tiny lint or fuzz ball.

 

No, Mom, it might be a mosquito.

 

A what?

 

Yeah, a mosquito.  Get it out of here!

 

There are no mosquitoes in this house and certainly not in the bathtub, dear.  It’s not a mosquito.

 

Maybe it is, get it out of here!  He pulls away in unfeigned fear.

 

I fish around in the tub for something of undetermined origin that’s less than 1/32^nd of an inch long.  A tiny fuzz ball which I throw into the garbage,

 

Okay, it’s gone.  It’s in the trash.  Now can you get scrubbed and finish in the tub?  There are no mosquitoes in this house, and they only grow in water that’s been sitting around for a while, like a week.

 

Two days.

 

What do you mean, two days?

 

Yup, two days.  The mosquitoes lay an egg in the water and a larva hatches in two days.  Then it turns into a cocoon in two days.  Then it hatches again in two days and it flies away. 

 

<Raising my eyebrows>

 

The Mosquito Control guy taught me that at school when he came and visited our class.

 

Okay, so two days.  I just put that water in the tub not 15 minutes ago.  There are no mosquitoes in it.  Get scrubbed and finish.

 

Okay, Mom.

 

He’s still staring at the water as I walk away.

 

What will he learn at school next year, in kindergarten?  I wonder to myself, half-listening for another shouted plea.

 

  4:54:34 PM    comment []

WARNING:  I. D. 10. T. at the keyboard...

I'm very sorry, you may have been drawn here from Recently Changed Salon Blogs list thinking I'd actually posted something new.

Probably not.  I'm trying to teach myself how to do thumbnails and I'm floundering.  In fact, if you try my last post and it doesn't give you a larger image when you click on the thumbnail, drop me a comment.  Let me know exactly what it is you're seeing.

Thanks for your help and your patience.

UPDATE -- 01-MAY-03 4:55 PM EDT --

Okay, I yanked the thumbnail, replaced it with a smaller version of the original picture.  I'll try it again tomorrow.  I think I'm messing up the reference to the original photo.  Live and learn; at least I'm not doing this for a living!

 

  12:59:03 PM    comment []

For the daughter’s parents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are so proud, you think,

Clutching your nursling pink

Beaming as she bubbles

 

You have no clue

Know not as I do

That tears ahead puddle

 

She’ll take liberties never granted with less than a wink;

She’ll hog all the of the bathroom, including the sink.

 

She’ll expect some pet fish, and now a pet cat,

She’ll demand a pet dog, if she can’t have that.

 

She’ll wear your clothes, even those you’ve not worn;

She’ll rip your tongue clean away, after you’ve sworn.

 

She’ll take your car keys;

She’ll not even say please.

 

She’ll drain your life savings, as she heads off to school;

She’ll demand any balance to spend on some fool;

 

She’ll take your breath away as she walks down the aisle;

She’ll do it again when she hands you a grandchild.

 

You are so proud, you think

Swaddling your sweet thing

Smiling as she snuggles

 

You do not ken

Before you this, then

A tragedy, which starts:

 

She’ll love you to death, but worse:

She’ll steal your heart.

 

  10:52:49 AM    comment []