Being A Mom

I was drying Hazel's hair today when I noticed a little red bump on the back of her earlobe.  I looked a little closer and thought it might be a little scab.  So, naturally, I picked at it.

After .07 seconds of picking, I knew exactly what It was.

Not a scab.  No, if only It had been a scab.

Considering this was my first encounter with It, I'm a little impressed with my identification ability.

After initial identification, my life flashed before my eyes.  Or just a series of random thoughts.

Oh Gosh!
Don't panic.
Gag!
Keep calm.
I touched It.
Don't scare Hazel.
Tweezers.
Deep breath.
I TOUCHED IT!

I smiled, looked at Hazel and calmly told her she had a "boo-boo" on her ear and I needed to take care of it and I'd be right back. 

I scurried to my bathroom and found some tweezers and paused to say a prayer.  Yes.  I was honestly scared to death and knew I needed to be calm.  So I prayed.

I calmly went back to Hazel and had her look down while I fixed her "boo-boo".  I warned her it might hurt a little, but I needed her to stay very still. 

She then did something she never does.

She obeyed.

I firmly grasped It with said tweezers, and tugged.

Tugged again.

And, thankfully, It let go.  I proceeded to squeeze with all my might, making sure I had squeezed the life out of It, because yes...It had a life.  Yes.  Had.  I killed it.  Yes.  Me.

I wrapped It up in some toilet paper and stuck It in the medicine cabinet.  (Not sure why, I really wanted to show Seth, but I was too chicken to leave It out on the counter...the medicine cabinet is empty, so it was like a tomb, or something).

I then swabbed the entire left side of Hazel's head with rubbing alcohol.

And life went on.  (But not before we all changed our clothes and had a very thorough inspection).

I am not sure if that is the proper way to handle an It - especially when said It is a tick. 

Oh, gag.

Just the word gives me the heebee-geebees. 

I probably should have called Seth and asked what to do, or really asked any of the guys in his office, they would know.  Or maybe I should have googled it.

I didn't.  But I did what I thought was best. 

It might not be a big deal to some people, but for me it was. 

Ticks are terrifying.

Really terrifying.

So, yes.  All those times I watched my mom do crazy things - clean up bodily fluids, kill spiders, drive a van - and think, "Oh Gross!  I could never do that!"  And each time Mom would smile and say, "It's different when you're a mom".

Well, kids, yes.  Mom was right. 

Now, please excuse me it is time for our daily tick-check.