Jun 08 2009
Eeeew….a hitch-hiker!
I use my sons stroller every day as almost an extension of my body. If I go outside, I roll the stroller outside so he can enjoy a little bit of sunshine while I do whatever it is I need to do outside. While I work on my freelance writing gigs during the day, there are times he hangs out in the stroller next to my chair playing with toys and gurgling to me while I pound the keyboard to make a few pennies for my little family. We also take hour long walks at the local park during the mornings to get fresh air and some much needed post-pregnancy exercise. Beyond the handy-dandy stroller feature, is of course the snazzy car seat that pops right out for use when traveling, which of course we use as much as the stroller feature.
The place my husband and I frequent the most other than Wal-Mart and the Post Office is our in-laws who live exactly one street over. It’s not very far, but many times it’s easier to load up the diaper bag and drive over rather than walk the stroller over.
Last night was no different than many nights as we drove over to mingle with the in-laws for just a bit. My brother-in-law inherited a gas grill and was cleaning it up to get ready to BBQ as soon as possible. My husband helped scrub away while my sister-in-law and I sat outside watching them while she held my little munchkin and I watched my 2-year old nephew try to get into as many things as he possibly could. We took the car seat outside to let my son relax in it if he wanted and didn’t think twice about it.
The difference, although just a street over, between our houses is that we do not have snails. Not the long, slender shelled kind you dug up and played with as kids, or accidentally crunched under your flip-flop during the summer. Not any. Absolutely no snails in sight! My in-laws however, have ginormous, yucky snails with round, brown shells. Bleck! Now I’m a country-girl and bait my own fishing pole, scooped my share of horse poop and played in the mud a time or two…but snails are just nasty. Seriously…anything that slimey is just wrong!
Anyways, yes there are grody snails in my in-laws flower beds and around their house. They don’t really move too fast so hey they aren’t too much of a threat to me…or so I thought!
This morning as I sat pounding the keyboard, writing an article about diseases that affect babies and I noticed a large, brown object in the corner across from my desk. The corner where I usually park my sons stroller.
Being the OCD clean freak that I am, I knew darn-good-and-well that brown lump was not supposed to be there. I jumped up to investigate and ‘lo and behold it was a big, grody snail. Just like the big, grody snails at my in-laws!
Now short of hitching a ride on my pants or shoes, the only way that disgusting critter could get into my house would have to have been on my SON’S CARSEAT while we were sitting outside last night! Ewww! A HITCH-HIKER!
So here I sit writing…and there he sits in the corner. I’m totally freaked out that he was able to hitch a ride…worried he could have tarnished the car seat with germs (I just love how being a Mom makes you crazy like that)… and well just grossed out in general.
I can’t wait until my husband gets home to remove our hitch-hiker invader…
