Sometimes It’s Scary Being an Only Parent

I hope this humorous story will put a smile on your face because some of the things that may seem terrible in life may end up making you laugh.

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It’s hard to put on a brave face when you’re a mother and the only parent who scares easily.

Sometimes I wish that I was married just to get me through the times that I become so frightened that I don’t know what to do. (That’s the ONLY reason why I regret not being married.) But, it’s just me and my 15-year old daughter.

Situations were much easier when my father was alive and was actively mobile. Since my parents had been our neighbors, I could easily call my father to come to my house to help me out. It was as though he saved my life. He’d get rid of huge bugs that mysteriously showed up in our home. I called him so much when I couldn’t handle things, like the time a tiny bird fell from the nest built on a beam on my front porch. Neither my daughter nor I could handle seeing the hatchling struggle as it was stuck between the wooden floor beams. My father freed it and reunited it with the nest. And then there was the time that a bird hit and got stuck on my windshield as I drove through my neighborhood. I abandoned my car in the middle of the street and screamed all the way home for my father’s help. He rescued me from that situation just as he had always done. I could describe situation after situation when he helped me when I was too scared to help myself.

When my father passed away right before the pandemic created our health crisis, I knew that I had to foster a level of personal independence…even at my mature age. I knew that I needed to stop being so afraid of stuff and creatures so easily.

But sadly, this is an area of my life that I have not been able to get a grip on.

Then All You Know What Broke Loose

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Photo by Manuel bonadeo on Unsplash

I knew my garage door was broken and that it was not sealed properly at the bottom. But I took my time getting it repaired until it was too late. Aside from cold air entering the garage, I never considered the possibility that anything could happen with a gap at the bottom of my garage door. However, something did happen.

As I sat in my bedroom one night shortly after my father died, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A mouse scampered across my floor and disappeared in the direction of my bathroom plumbing. I screamed and became paralyzed with fear as I rushed to my living room sofa where I sat shaking without moving until the next morning. I remained covered in a cold sweat as I remained in idle disbelief most of the time.

A little composure was regained the next morning. The garage door was repaired and the exterminators came. In addition to traps and sealing all the openings that were discovered around the outside perimeter of my home, I was assured that no more rodents could ever enter our home again. Although the exterminator caught two more mice in my garage because the garage door had not been completely closed, the memories of seeing that mouse invading the private space of my bedroom and bathroom continued to haunt me.

To fast forward to this moment in time, the only thing I can say is that it would sure be nice to sleep in my bed again. Seeing a mouse in my personal space has messed up my mind so badly that I cannot and will not sleep in my comfortable bed. I can’t do it. The sofa and recliner have been where I have slept for two years when we have not been traveling. While I spend time in my private rooms, watch television there, and so much more, sleeping in my bed has become a non-negotiable because I will not do it.

Now I am in the process of preparing to relocate to a different state. As my daughter and I have been using a spare room to store things like Christmas decorations and papers, the unthinkable happened. Again. My daughter discovered a creature on the closet floor in that room. She described it as being white with a long furry tail. It almost sounded like it could have been a rabbit or squirrel. I tried to figure out how it got into that part of our home as I erased the description from my mind at the same time. I just could not bear to hear any details of yet another creature being discovered in our home.

I assumed the culprit was the garage door again. And here’s the reason why. When we were away for several days, someone tried to break into our home through the garage. As the would-be burglar tried to unsuccessfully pry the secure garage door open, it caused another gap at the bottom of the door. It would no longer close all the way. I assumed that another creature squeezed in through the opening and has taken up residency in our home.

After the garage door was repaired again, we also reacted to this unwanted pest by closing the door to the spare room and not entering until I got someone to remove whatever the creature was. I knew that it must have died in the spot where my daughter found it because she stole peaks at it a few times. Each time she did she declared

“it’s still there!”

Knowing that some type of rodent entered our home again caused me to remain suspicious throughout our house. I cautiously opened doors and cabinets and went from room to room expecting to see creatures scampering about. We were living in the fear that I recognized very well.

My daughter and I were so pleased that my Uncle Skippy, my father’s youngest brother, was finally able to come to dispose of the odd creature that my daughter eloquently described. When he arrived, I armed him with gloves, a small box, and plastic bags because I assumed he would need these things to get rid of the rodent. I immediately told my uncle that I would be hiding somewhere in the background when he removed it because I was so scared. He calmed me down by saying

“it’s okay to be scared”.

And his words calmed me.

When I sent him up to the room, I heard him moving things and walking around. I began to think that the rodent had escaped. Then my uncle came down the steps and told me the dreadful news. He said that the creature was gone and was probably loose in our house. In disbelief, I sent my frightened daughter into the room to make sure Uncle Skippy looked in the right location. My scared 15-year-old said her famous words

“it’s still there!”

When my uncle returned to the exact spot that my daughter pointed out, he got it! Finally!! But when he returned down the stairs he didn’t have it boxed and bagged. Neither did he have gloves on. Instead he carried the creature in his hand. Uncle Skippy let us know that the creature was a piece of cloth. When I looked at it, I realized that it was part of the fake fur that once covered a Christmas stocking that was stored in that closet.

We laughed hysterically.

And I have peace in my life again because I know that invaders are not in our home.

But I’m still not sleeping in my bed…at least not yet.