Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Sad, Horrifying and SO NOT OK!!

I really couldn't think of a title to express the sentiment I'm going to express in this post... that was the best I could do.

Here's the background. I'm not proud to admit this, but I'm legitimately scared of bugs. They gross me out. The actual fear started with a certain cockroach incident the night before my 14th birthday. So yeah, I've been suffering from bug anxiety for about 10 years now.

We live in a basement apartment. As such, we have the pleasure of frequent company-- spiders mostly, but this summer we seem to be suffering from an earwig infestation. Earwigs are especially troubling to me-- mostly due to their disgusting name. They obviously earned that name because they sneak into your ears and eat your brains out. Whether or not that is true, they gross me out and cause me much anxiety. One day earlier this week I actually exclaimed that if I saw one more earwig I was going to blow this place up. It's a good thing I don't have access to any explosives...

That being said, last night Eric had an intermural softball game and Wesley was being ridiculously sweet all evening. We were very much enjoying this behavior since Wesley usually decides he hates being alive after 7 pm and cries and fusses until he falls asleep anywhere between 9:30 and 11pm. He hadn't fussed all night! Hopefully that means we are turning over a new leaf and it wasn't just a one time deal... We'll see. So we get home around 9:30ish and Wesley starts freaking out. We figure it's just the usual evening fussies and start thinking of creative ways to calm him down. Since Eric was sweaty from softball, we figured a shower with Dad might do the trick. I put Wes on the changing table to get him ready for showertime (he's still screamy, all the while).

I take off Wesley's sock to discover an earwig spazzing all over his foot!! Naturally I scream, shake the earwig off my tiny baby's foot and kill it promptly. Wesley immediately settled down. Ummm YEAH! I'd freak out too if there was a disgusting EARWIG in my SOCK!!!! I was so offended. Don't touch my baby!! It only added to the fury that I, only minutes later, killed another earwig on Wesley's changing table and another one in the bathroom. Eric also killed 2 other earwigs in the same time frame. WHAT THE HECK?!?!? I generously sprayed Raid Ant and Roach killer around the house and thankfully haven't seen another one today.

Now everytime Wesley gets fussy, I check for earwigs first. I had a hard time falling asleep last night because I thought there were earwigs in the bed. My hair tickled my arm and I nearly dropped Wesley because I thought it was an earwig. You get the point. I'm not kidding about the anxiety thing... It's somewhat crippling at times. I'm open for tips on how to banish earwigs from your house. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go vacuum again and spray more Raid.
p.s. I don't know if I can keep that picture up... it makes me sick.

5 comments:

Amy said...

I can very much relate. It is so good to hear someone that has as much of a bug/spider phobia as me... it is seriously debilitating sometimes!

Lana said...

Ummm...#1, you should call your landlord and have him get the place sprayed. Remind him that earwigs were trying to eat your baby if he gives you crap about an exterminator coming. #2, perhaps I should find an alternate place to stay while I'm there?!?! :)

LadyCarma said...

Safety tip #1: don't spray the Raid inside your apartment. Take it outside and spray around the foundation of the apartment. That stuff is very toxic to little baby lungs. Tip #2: sprinkle baking soda around the baseboards in the bathroom, and watch to see if you get dead earwigs in the soda. I understand it is like a poison to them when they ingest it. Also, they don't like crawling over it, so they don't "enter" the room from the cracks along the floor. Tip #3: mind over matter - yes, they are gross, but there are worse things -aka snakes, spiders,etc. You have to protect your young, so you can do anything, including getting rid of the offending varmit!

Did Wesley have earwigs bites on his foot? The pinchers on the earwigs are not too painful (I know this from many experiences as a child) but not as painful as a bee sting or an ant bite. I feel your annoyance.

Kate Challis said...

Oh nasty nasty nasty! Just reading about earwigs made me shiver. I totally sympathize with you. I hope you can get rid of them ASAP!

Allyson & Jere said...

Not that this will make you feel any better, but I had a rather traumatic experience with an earwig myself. As in, I awoke one night with one, IN MY EAR, flipping about on my eardrum. I FREAKED out, shook my head around like a person possessed until the offending demon fell out of my ear onto my bed. It was AWFUL. Consequently, I slept with cotton jammed in my ears every night for a good 2 weeks. Thankfully, no earwigs since. So, I'm sorry you're suffering from these hideous beasts,and I wish you the best of luck in getting rid of them.