Ant Invasion

I am so mad..

Monday evening 11:32pm.  Sydney is sleeping peacefully, Doug is watching baseball, and I am laying peacefully on the couch unwinding before bed and watching "What Not to Wear" (really, why do I stay up so late?).

Suddenly, Sydney comes out of the room SCREAMING that her bottom hurts.  Random.  What on earth wakes you up in the middle of the night screaming in pain?  And plus it is Sydney - one of the toughest girl's I know.

I see a couple bites.  They must be the chigger bites again - she was eaten alive a few weeks ago with over 30 bites along her underwear lines.  I put some medicine on the bites and put her back in bed.

A few minutes later she comes out screaming again in excruciating pain.  This time we turn on the light to investigate and discover fire ants crawling all over her bed.  Are you kidding me?  I just sent my little girl back to bed to get more fire ant bites.  I am clearly not winning the award for "mom of the year" for this one.

I call for Doug to help and we divide and conquer - I take care of Sydney, Doug takes care of the ant invasion.  The memories of this divide and conquer approach bring back memories we would like to forget forever - memories of middle of the night sessions of cleaning up throw-up from Jenson's bed (I clean up Jenson, Doug cleans up the room), memories of middle of the night fevers and one of us racing to the hospital with Jenson while the other stays home with sleeping Sydney, memories of the late night adrenaline rush that wakes you up so you can help your hurting child.

These memories quickly bring on the anger - anger that we know these feelings all too well AND anger that something outside our control is once again eating away at our precious child. 

I help Sydney get off her monkey pjs (with fire ants crawling around inside), get the ants off her body, put medicine on the bites, and set up the blow-up bed on the floor of our bedroom so she can go back to sleep.  Sydney says to me in her sweet curious voice, "Mommy, why did God create ants? Because it seems like all they do is bite people.".  Then she says, "Mommy, I feel like something is crawling on my neck even though there is nothing there."  Of course she does.

I then head back to help Doug with the clean-up.  He is outside with Sydney's American girl doll Julie.  The ants have started making an ant hill on Julie's shirt.  Apparently Julie was the star attraction and Sydney was just caught in the crossfire.  While he is cleaning up Julie, I start taking on the ants in the bed.  One bites me on the foot.  I feel fiery pain shooting through my foot and can only imagine how painful Sydney's 20+ bites must feel.

It is me against the ants.  Finally, a battle I could possibly win (with the help of the exterminator in the morning).  I start killing the ants who have invaded her cozy bed one by one.  It feels good to be able to destroy something that hurt your child.

Sydney wakes up with lots of red welts with white puss tips - all over her bottom, some on her hands, legs, arms, groin area, up the edge of her nose, and two at the corner of her mouth.  Every time I look at her red welts I say, "I am so mad!!!". 

I actually think Sydney kind of likes that I am so mad.   She smiles a cute, closed mouth smile everytime I say it. 

It always feels good to know someone has your back and will fight for you.