Memorial Day...and our love of animals:-)

So, today my parents came by to see the kids. They hadn't seen them in a week because of course, our wild wild west adventure. They always seem to go through a sort of withdrawal when separated from these 3 crazy monkeys. Anyway, we had a nice Memorial Day lunch of hot dogs, baked beans, corn on the cob, and of course mac & cheese. And of course, when it came time for them to leave Sawyer begged to go home with them, Tucker gladly shuffled her out the door, and there was just me, Darrin, and the boys. Later on, I went to the basement and decided to check my email while down there. Mind you, our downstairs computer is in the storage room -- an unfinished, concrete walled, full of storage bins, dungeon. So I'm down there awhile and eventually Tucker comes down to see what I'm doing. I kind of am not paying attention to him (as I'm glued to facebook) and pretty soon I hear him say, "look mom, a rat".

OK, a few months ago I noticed a mouse in the house. We debated the cat thing but eventually decided it just wasn't the right time yet so Darrin went out and bought a ton of traps. I, being the animal lover that I am, begged Darrin to only get the humane kind. I soooo did not want to hear a 'SNAP' while home during the day with the kids and I just can't handle the whole idea of the 'process' of the traditional mouse trap. Well, I'm here to tell you that those 'humane' traps are for the birds and TOTALLY don't work. We never caught anything and I just convinced myself that the mice were smart little buggers, saw the traps, and left on their own doing. Yeah, right! One evening, I'm in Tucker's room and I catch a glimpse of one going into the vent...blaaahhhh....OK, this was it -- time for the big guns -- the dreadful 'snapper'. I told Darrin to go to the store and just get the ones that kill...yes, these were my exact words. All of my humane, warm & fuzzy, "ohhh, poor little thing" feelings were GONE, GONE, GONE! I had seen a mouse in MY son's room and this was completely and totally unacceptable!

So yes, let's get back to this evening and the storage room...I hear the word 'rat' come out of Tuck's mouth, I turn my head and see him holding the 'snap' trap with yes, you guessed it, a dead, dangling mouse hanging from it! Again, blaaaaahhhhhh....!!!! "PUT IT DOWN AND GO WASH YOUR HANDS IMMEDIATELY!!!" [yes, both of you who read this blog, you probably remember Easter weekend...the oppossum episode....here we go again] So Darrin comes downstairs, takes the occupied trap, and disposes of it in the trash, this time in the outside trash.

Later on, the four of us decide to go get something to eat and after, got ice cream. We're sitting there enjoying our Cold Stone and

Tucker says, "Mom, I'm really sad for all the dead animals."

Me: "I know, me too."

Tucker: "I'm sad because they don't get to see their mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and sister and brother...."

Me: "I know, but it's ok because we'll all meet up again someday in heaven. Just like that little mouse [which is why I know is the reason this whole conversation started], he's in little mouse heaven right now" [yes, I know, I sound ridiculous, but come on....he's such a lover of animals]

Tucker: "No he's not, he's in the trash."

OOOOKKKK....so much for sparing the feelings of a little 4 year old boy. I guess he just says it and sees it the way it is:-)