Where is a good Catfish when you need one?

We have a mouse in the house.  It’s not big, but it is fast.  I know that it will go away when A) it warms up outside, or B) it gets tired of sharing the girls’ bedroom with them. (that shouldn’t take long.  There are fewer less deadly hazards outside, even in the cold, than there are in the girls’ room) It’s not like we’re feeding it or making a bed for him. He’s just here.

Having a mouse in the house isn’t anything new to us.  It honestly has nothing to do with my level of house cleaning, I swear!!! It has a whole lot to do with the fact that every house we have lived in is close to or surrounded by fields and mice are a fact of life.  When I was still married to the girls’ dad, we lived in a farm house that was over 50 years old.  It was kind of loose in the joints,(the fireplace was falling away from the house and I found snow in my living room on more than one occasion) and old, and settling. It was not unusual to see a mouse or two running around the house.  Especially in the winter.

One morning I got up to get ready for work.  I was still breastfeeding Newt at the time so I had to get up extra early.  I walked into the bathroom, flipped on the light, lifted the toilet lid, preparing to sit when I saw him…

Mighty Mouse, doing laps in my toilet.

It took everything in me to not scream but I had sleeping babies I didn’t want to wake up yet.  So I put the lid back down, calmly walked back to our bedroom and told the girls’ dad “Uh, you need to get up and deal with the mouse doing laps in our toilet.”

“All you have to do is flush him.”

“Uh, have you met me?  Knowing my luck?  He’ll float as the water level rises, grab ahold of the rim of the bowl, climb out and demand that I bring him a towel.  No thank you.”

“Fine.”

So, while he’s in the bathroom dealing with Mighty Mouse, I’m in the living room convincing myself I really could hold it until I got to work.  Or at least until I got to the gas station in town.  I wasn’t sure which for sure, but I knew one thing… my butt would NOT be sitting on that toilet anytime that morning. Period. Done.

Girls’ dad came out to tell me the mouse was gone. “You can go to the bathroom now.”

“That’s what you think.  What did you do with him.”

“I flushed him.”

“Ok, well, tomorrow, YOU’RE getting up first and checking for swimmers.”

“I’m pretty sure he won’t be back.”

“I’m not so sure.  He found a warm private pool to do his morning laps in.  And now he knows there’s an awesome power water slide too.  He’ll be telling all his friends about it at lunch to day.  Tonight?  We’ll be hosting the Mousekateer Swimming Party.  You better stop and get more beer on your way home.”