This morning as I went into Katelyn's room to put something away, I saw a little black bead roll quickly under her changing table. 'That's wierd,' I thought to myself. And then I stood there for a while. A black bead? Katelyn's pony beads are a rainbow of sparkly colors, none of them black. And I didn't feel myself kick or step on a bead. Hmm. Against my better judgement, I lay down on the floor and looked for the bead. Ah! There it was. Still, I felt unsettled. So I sat. And stared. And suddenly that little black bead began to move. Or did it? I had to know. I skirted out to the hall closet for the broom. A deep breath and short pep talk later and I took a swing under the table.
AND OUT POPPED A COCKROACH.
I want to barf just typing that.
It was a small little sucker, no bigger than an inch. And you can bet he's long dead now. But no matter. It was the third one I'd seen in a week. (One skittering across the lobby floor, now squished. And the other in the garbage chute, flying. Which while gross, kind of doesn't count. I mean, what do I expect to see in the trash chute? Lollipops and rainbows?) Immediately my CLEAN THE WHOLE HOUSE NOW anxiety set in. No matter that Katelyn had already maxed out her tv watching for the day. In front of Peter and the Wolf she went. Nicholas, bless him, was already fast asleep.
As my cleansing fury began I started thinking. A cockroach is just a bug. Like a spider or godforbid a centipede. No, I countered. It isn't. A cockroach is deserving of another level of contempt in my book. I sing about an itsy bitsy spider about a hundred times a day. There is no itsy bitsy cockroach. Anyone's house can have a spider. But a cockroach? That means something else entirely. It means maybe I'm a bad housekeeper. That I subject my children to abject squalor. Forgoodnesssake I bet half of you have never even seen a cockroach! And yet, here I am living amongst them as if they were pets.
Let's count this among my "Things I dislike about New York City." And keep our fingers crossed we don't see any more.
3 comments:
No Words....just laughter! I would be freaking out too! YUCKY
I'd say those centipedes give the cockroaches a run for their money in terms of yuck factor. Those suckers are FAST. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!
i was laughing out loud reading this! must be because you are on high floor. by no means is your house dirty or even untidy for that matter. we don't see them down here on 3, thank goodness.
only one more year, just keep reminding yourself of that!
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