Wednesday, August 18, 2010

All Creatures Are Stirring...Even The Mouse

We have a mouse in the house. She is the newest addition to the homeschool room. I'd reveal her name, but I'm not entirely certain what it is. Emma named her, and with confident certainty at that. She says her name is "Owie" or "Allie" or something like that. So, I call her "Ally-Oops".

Or, "Ally-Poops", which I find far more fitting.

She's cute enough, I suppose, save the tail. We've had mice before. First, there was Shakespeare. He was our very first mouse our very first year of homeschooling, and he kind of set a precedent I suppose. Ever since, my kids assume that the homeschool room needs a living, breathing mascot, and that the dog and cat don't count. Shakespeare was very friendly, but he was a boy, and we learned the hard way that male rodents smell much stronger than females. Next came Murphy. Then there was Kiwi, Westie, and Rodeo. That was an interesting threesome. Who knew mice were cannibals? Oh, the learning that does take place in a homeschool room!!! After the demise of the triplets, we upgraded to a "ROUS" (Rodent Of Unusual Size) when Hayden entered his very sincere Guinea Pig stage. We played host to Celementine, then Penelope, then Daffodil. When we lost our last Guinea Pig, I assumed we had finally passed a phase and entered into the very mature and pleasant smelling stage of being a non-rodent owning household.

But I was wrong.

Good luck, Alley-Oops. I hope somebody remembers to feed and water you and to clean your cage, because I have paid my dues with your predecessors and I am now retired from the rodent poop business. Your wheel is very squeaky, and why do you climb on it the very minute I crawl into bed each night? If it isn't the squeak of your wheel keeping me awake at night, it is the sound of my gigantic cat throwing himself against the bookshelves trying to get to you and your squeaky wheel to eat you both.

Welcome to the jungle. Good luck, Alley-Oops.

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