I Don't Do Spiders

Anyone who knows me well, knows I'm deathly afraid of spiders. I was afraid of spiders when my sister used to put little plastic ones on my pillow at night. (I blame her for my fear, by the way. It must have scarred me for life). At Christmas time, I about had a heart attack seeing my nephew's plastic tarantula on the couch behind me. I'm even afraid of Jacob's hand when he crawls across a surface, pretending to be a spider. This is not a new thing. I see a spider (no matter how small,) and I freak out. Not kidding. Even a spider as small as a pencil dot, I get afraid of. A dot!!!

Today, I was in the kitchen, getting some stuff out of the freezer for the omelets we're having for dinner. When I first opened the freezer, I thought I saw a black moving shadow of some sort. But couldn't see it inside the shelves, so I closed the door and opened it again. Saw the same black shadow out of the corner of my eye. Found the source. A nasty black spider hanging out on the inside hinge of the door. My protective mothering instinct took over. (And thank goodness it did, or else I'd still be downstairs shivering in a corner watching the spider until Jacob came home). I pushed Alexia's walker a couple of feet, so she'd be clear of the spider. I grabbed a shoe, and smacked the door, trying to get it to fall. It jumped down about 4-5 inches, but stayed on the door. So, I did that two or three more times, each time the spider jumped down further. Finally, the I couldn't see it on the inside anymore. So, I hesitated, and took a deep breath, and shut the freezer door. I finally got a good look at the nasty spider as it tried to crawl under the fridge. Big spider. I know I'm a wimp, so any spider to me seems big. But this one was about 1/4 inch, by about 3/8 to 1/2 of an inch. Big, plump, nasty spider. I tried whacking it with the shoe again, and it sped away. Thankfully, it sped away from the fridge, not under it. One more frantic scream and WHACK, and it died!!! I took a few shaky breaths, and picked Alexia up, who was screaming by now, having picked up on my mood. I comforted her, and tried to act normally as I made lunch, and we ate. We now have a shoe print of dirt on the outside of our black freezer. I'm leaving it there until Jacob comes home so he can see evidence of my awesomeness.

Then, to make a skittish person even more nervous, I decided to take Alexia for a walk. It's a beautiful day, and I wanted to take advantage. As I got her ready and we went into the garage to get her stroller, there on the wall of the garage sat an even bigger, nastier spider. It was a thinner spider (not as plump), but with leg span and long body, it was at least 3/4 of an inch by an inch. Huge!!! (Not an exaggeration...I don't think) Typically when I see a spider on the ground, I feel a bit more powerful. But, when a spider is high up on the wall, or especially the ceiling, I feel so small and helpless. It's horrible! So, I'm looking at this spider on the garage wall, knowing that I won't be able to kill it. Picturing that if I go at it with a shoe, it'll either fall, and I won't be able to find it. Or it'll fall ON ME. Or it'll just climb higher, and freak me out even more. So, I did what any sane person would do. I left it there. Closed the garage behind me as quick as I could and took Alexia for a 40 minute walk.

Returning from our walk, I drove the stroller through the front door, rather than the garage. I don't want to see that the spider has moved, because my imagination will do terrible things to me all afternoon. Nope. I'm avoiding the garage at all costs today. When Jacob comes home, I'll be telling him that there is a spider in the garage, and he'll heroically go kill it for me. Unless of course the spider has moved from it's space on the wall. In which case, I'll have nightmares tonight.

Let's not think about that possibility.

An Answer to Prayer

Lately, Jacob has been having really long hours at the office. Busy season for the Auditing and Taxing world. So, I'll be alone for an entire day with Alexia, and somehow, those hours between 6 and bedtime are the worst. They're the hours when we usually hear daddy driving up, and I know I'm gonna get some help with Lexi, and she knows there's someone else to entertain her. So, the days when he's not able to come home until 8 or 9 are really long. I'm exhausted. Lexi is ornery. I'm out of patience, etc.

A couple of weeks ago, Alexia and I were having a particularly rough day. Jacob was in for a long evening at the office, and I couldn't figure out why Alexia was crying so much. Didn't want to eat much. Screamed her head off when it was nap time. Fussy all-around. Didn't dawn on me until 2-3 hours into this that she's probably teething. During the crying spells, I'd say a silent prayer in my heart "Please help me to figure out what's wrong," or "Please help her stop crying," or "Please help me with patience to deal with her..." etc.

Earlier that day, I had made my Visiting Teaching phone calls (I'm a supervisor). The Relief Society President is one of the people I call, and she was returning my call that evening. In the background, Lexi was screaming. The President asked if I needed a break, and offered to come over. I told her I'd be fine, but she told me to call if I changed my mind. I got off the phone, and realized I really did need a break. I was at my breaking point, and even if Jacob could leave work right then, he was still a half an hour away. So, I called my Relief Society President in tears, and asked her to come over.

She was at my house within 2 minutes. Acting the part of a nurse, she asked me how much Lexi had eaten, slept, what symptoms she had, etc. We both figured it had to be teething. She told me to give Alexia to her for at least 5 minutes, and take a break. So, I handed my screamer to her, and went upstairs and just sobbed for a couple minutes. Said a little prayer, took some deep breaths, and went downstairs. Lexi had stopped crying for a minute. The R.S. Pres then asked if I had any teething tablets. I had forgotten I had some! But, I remembered that my sisters gave me some at my baby shower. So, I got them, and gave Alexia two. She ate some applesauce, and was sleeping in my arms within about 5 minutes. I let her sleep for about 25 minutes while waiting for Jacob to come home. Then, I fed her and put her to bed. She slept until 7:30 without waking up!!!

I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father sending me that return phone call, right when I needed it. I'm grateful I was doing my calling that afternoon. I'm grateful my wonderful neighbor was willing to drop everything and come help. And especially that she asked me about teething tablets. They've since saved our lives on three or four occasions. They're wonderful!!! Thank goodness for prayer, and for wonderful neighbors!