A Boy Story

We have a lot of wildlife around our house. We live near a river and have lots of trees, so we get to experience a lot of different "critters." For example, in the past three months I have witnessed a group of five (yes, I said five) armadillos making their way across our backyard, I've looked out the window and witnessed a hawk swooping down to pick up a snake, then backing off when the snake reared up at it, and we had a few mice move in with us (temporarily) when I went out of town unexpectedly and my children left a pixie stick and a Tootsie-Roll pop in our garage, along with a trail of Goldfish crumbs leading to our kitchen and practically hung a "Welcome" sign on the door. We also had a blue-tailed skink (I really have no idea what that is, but that's what Cameron called it) running around our living room last week which he had to catch in a jar and take outside before I had a meltdown.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not a big fan of little critters when they are in my living space! Don't get me wrong, I love the bunnies that live in our yard and the squirrels don't bother me a bit, but the creepy things literally make my skin crawl! My boys have learned that I do not really want to see the frog, or the lizard, or the dead anything that they found outside.
Well, today just takes the cake! You see, we were running late to football camp, so I told Cameron to grab his football shoes (which are kept in the garage) and put them on in the car because I didn't have time to wait for him to tie them. (That is a whole other story that you are probably familiar with if you come to Legacy Moms!)
Anyway, we are driving on the highway when Cameron sticks his foot in his shoe and yells out, 'Oh, Man! That is gross!" First of all, I'm trying to drive on the freeway. Suddenly yelling out was mistake #1. Secondly, I know those shoes have been in the garage and my mind is spinning....is something about to come out? What if it touches me? How quickly can I pull over and get out of this car??? Thirdly, do you have any idea how gross it must be if HE things it is gross???
So I ask Cameron what it is and with a look of disgust, he tells me that there is a baby snake, cut in half, now smashed inside his shoe. He then goes into detail about how the blood and guts are all squished inside his shoe and the eyes are still looking up at him. At this point, I am about to get sick (especially since I am getting over a little stomach bug as it is!)
We pull over and Cameron shakes the smooshed baby snake carcass out of his shoe and then proceeds to just put his shoe back on! As if nothing happened! When seeing my look of horror, he looks at me and says "I'm just glad I have socks on!" Then he laughs and says to me "Hey, mom! There's a snake in my boots! Ha Ha! Just like Woody in Toy Story!"
All I can say is, I sure am glad I have a mini-man in my life that can handle all these traumatic events for me when the Big Man isn't around! And then just laugh about it! That's my BOY! He's gonna make some girl a really good husband one day!

God Bless!