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Sunday, May 17, 2009

You'll thank me for not posting a pic!

I wasn't sure what to title this post. Several ideas came to mind:

  1. The Mommy Zone
  2. Dr. Diet Pepper Saves The Day
  3. The Not-So-Glamorous-Life of Parenting
  4. I Am Not a Girlie-Girl But.....
  5. WHY CAN'T MY HUSBAND BE HOME?
  6. I Think I'm Going To Be Sick
  7. My Kids Are Never Going Outside Again
Can you tell I had a not-so-wonderful-thing happen today? I won't keep you in suspense.

MOMO HAD A TICK ON HER HEAD!!!

Still makes me shudder.

I just so happen to be caressing her little head when I felt a lump. I knew...just KNEW that it had to be a tick. What else could it be? I apprehensively seeked out the lump, parted her hair and THERE IT WAS. And it wasn't a little sucker either! I thought I was going to be sick.

I immediately had to get into the zone. You know which one. The "Mommy Zone". The place you you go in your mind when you really don't want to do something but because you hold the title of "mommy" it's up to you to do it? I think it's more of a daddy's job but since daddy is thousands of miles away he was of no help. How about a grandpa's job? Well, my father wasn't home at the time either. It was up to me to remove the tick. !@#$%^&!

The "Mommy Zone" directed me to the tweezers, alcohol wipes, tissues, Diet Dr. Pepper and a straw. No, Diet Dr. Pepper doesn't kill ticks but I knew it would keep Momo occupied for a few minutes! I told Momo that she had a bug on her head and that mommy was going to get it. She didn't seem phased by it a bit. Thank goodness. I sat down in the recliner, turned on the reading lamp, placed Momo on my lap and handed her the Diet Dr. Pepper with a straw. "FOR ME?!?" her little eyes said. I told her to go ahead and drink it but stay very, very still for mommy. Oh yeah. That did it.

Now. I won't go into details about removing the tick. Let's just say it was quick and relatively painless. Momo didn't flinch and I (or should I say the tick) even took some skin off of her little head. But at least I got the critter off of her and left nothing behind. I also managed to stay conscious during the entire ordeal and did not vomit all over myself.

*Sigh* I am still totally and completely grossed out by it.

I called my husband and told him, "You were right." I'm sure he was shocked to hear those words as I don't say them that often. But last year the subject of ticks came up and he told me it would eventually happen - that one of the girls would get a tick. I didn't want to believe it. I held on to the hope that it just wouldn't happen. Never did I think that if it DID happen that I would be the one to remove it!

My husband asked me what did it look like, how did I remove it, how was Momo, etc. When I told him it was a fairly large tick he responded with, "Oh...it must've been on her for awhile."

Ummm, CORRECTION. That is NOT the right response! I told him he was supposed to say, "Sharon, don't worry. I'm sure it wasn't on her for very long."

Yeah, honey. Thanks for making me feel better.

After venting (crying?) about it to friends and family I was told of many different ways to remove a tick. Using tweezers; a burning match; Vaseline; etc. I just wanted to mention that a lot of these ways are not recommended anymore. Here's a link to proper tick removal in case you are ever in my predicament. By the way, it doesn't mention Diet Dr. Pepper.

Now, aren't you glad I didn't post a pic?

7 comments:

  1. As far as I'm concerned the Dr. Pepper was the most important part of that operation. Anything to keep her from freaking out, because man would that've made your job even harder or what?

    So why was it inevitable that someone would get a tick? Hey at least it was a tick and not lice.

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  2. Okay wow and yuck. Glad you and Momo are good now. I bet you'll be giving her daily head to toe checks now..haha

    p.s. watch the dogs, they tend to attach to the dogs...makes it easier to find human hosts once in the house.

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  3. Wow! A mother's job never ends! Glad you didn't pass out! I concur with Katie! No Lice! Lu's school was at defcon 5 for lice this past fall. I freaked out! I bought a lice comb and combed her hair fanatically. Luckily she never got it. I don't know what I would have done if she got it!

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  4. Hi Sharon, I just wanted to let you know I made a ref. to your blog on tomorrows post. It is meant to be funny - a play - on your blog name. It is a post about organization. I say I feel like I can relate to your blog name Mama's A Mess (I linked). If you don't like it I can remove it. It will be up at 6am. Thanks, Kim

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  5. Katie - if Momo had freaked out there is no way I could've gotten the tick! She is a wiggle worm as it is! And YES. Thank goodness it wasn't lice!!!

    Steph - don't give me another reason to be mad at my dad's dogs!!! lol

    Kim - I was *this* close to passing out. Felt the saliva building up in my mouth, my head was spinning....it was ugly. lol

    And of course you can link to me! ;) I'm a mess of all sorts lately!

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  6. OMG! THANK YOU for not sharing a photo. I can handle blood, cuts, wounds...but bugs and insects? BLECH!

    Your little one is such a trooper for not freaking out when you said their was a bug in her hair. My daughter would have freaked!

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  7. I hate ticks. Earlier in the month, my 4-year-old son had one on his private area. Awful. It took 5 minutes of work to get that thing off. He screamed he was never going outside again. Now every bug he sees he comes searching for me to squish because he thinks it's a tick.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!