Oh, it’s on
March 4, 2010Sometime last year (probably about the time Xander decided he could leave the house on his own, and hearing cars honk horns as our escapee darted out the door) Zach and I decided that we needed to move. We needed to get off our busy mostly-college-student-populated street and go somewhere that our kids could truly run and play and be boys without the fear of broken beer bottles, speeding cars and late-night parties.
So, we put our house on the market at the end of the summer. Much to our surprise, it sold in November. So, in three weeks we packed up all of our earthly belongings and moved into a rental house for the winter. We lived out of boxes and desperately missed our carefully collected possessions as we searched for the perfect home for our children.
Despite our realtor’s concerns, we insisted on looking at this house way out in the middle of nowhere. The town population doesn’t even come close to 100 people. Despite that, it’s still only 15 minutes from work, and we knew some people with kids the same age just down the street.
We fell in love. Sure, the house needs some love and some updating, but it’s in pretty good shape, and it’s huge. It’s got a brook running through the property (perfect for throwing rock into, and getting completely wet and muddy in) and it’s got a Harry Potter closet under the stairs.
So, we bought it. It took lots of super-human effort, and begging and pleading with numerous local and state officials to get the paperwork completed, but we finally did it.
And we moved. Good God we moved. Our beloved (and exhausted) friends all turned out one sunny Saturday in February and packed all of our belongings from a storage unit and the rental house into a U-haul and a few trucks and poured it all into this new (and now not-so-spacious-because-it’s-filled-with-all-our-crap) home.
And then we started to settle in. We sorted toys and washed clothes. We rearranged furniture and learned how our house worked. And then we lost power for 3 days (gotta love living in the sticks…). And we worried about pipes freezing, and our children became nomadic, shifting from home to home staying warm, fed and occupied while we prayed for the electric company to fix all those downed lines in record time.
During this move and settle period, I knew there were mice in the house. I had seen evidence of their existence when we first looked at the house. That first week I could hear them rustling somewhere as I lay in bed, and I actually saw one running around under a couch and behind some boxes.
Now, the mice have gotten used to us. I actually think they like the company. We brought in two not-so-neat children who love to leave discarded food on the floor. We keep the place warmer than they’re used to, and we’ve given them lots and lots of new things to chew through.
They are so comfortable in fact, that they don’t run when they see Zach walk into the basement anymore. Last night I found mouse poo in our silverware drawer (is there anything in the world ickier? It certainly gave me the heebie jeebies for the night). So, I spent the evening sanitizing everything I could get my hands on. The glue traps have been out for three days now, but not a single mouse has fallen for that trick yet (we have smart mice people!)
So, creepy, icky, pooping, scratching, chewing, dirty mice it. is. on. We paid good money for this house. We own it. We aren’t moving (and couldn’t afford to even if we wanted to). We will not cohabitate with you. The snap traps are coming in tonight. Spray foam for every crack and cranny will be added this weekend. We will continue to unpack boxes and place things in plastic bins where you can’t get them. We will win because we are bigger, smarter and stronger than you (unless you are Pinky or Brain, in which case, we’re doomed).
If anyone has any good suggestions for a) getting rid of mice; b) keeping them away; or c) cleaning and sanitizing things that clearly have had a mouse visit, I’m all ears (no pun intended)
