A Whole New Gross

There are certain things that have caught me by surprise being the mother of three boys. Having to say, “Get off the roof,” multiple times in one day and having a lawn mower that is pimped out complete with skull gear shifter and racing flames are just a couple of them. You would think after 18 years my ability to be surprised by what happens in my home would have begun to wain but a couple of weeks ago we reached a whole new level of ‘You have got to be kidding me!’

On Saturday it was time to clean rooms. Now I am not one to be a stickler for tidiness but the fact that I could smell my older boy’s rooms from the hallway meant it was time to draw a line in the sand. Ethan’s room smelled like a locker room and Shelby’s…well, let’s just say there was an oder coming from his that went beyond smelly socks and teenage boy funk. The ultimatum was delivered, “If you want to go to the movies then your laundry must be done and room completely cleaned.” Both boys were eager to go to the movies so they quickly went to work.

Not long after they started Shelby came into the kitchen with a stunned look on his slightly green face. Our conversation went something like this:

Shelby: Mom, I think I found out what is making my room smell weird.

Me: Well, whatever it is clean it up and get it out of your room.

Shelby: But, Mom, a few days ago Ethan killed a squirrel in the back yard.

Me: Yeah, so?

Shelby: I think the dog put it under my bed.

Me: WHAT?!?

Yes, there was a dead decaying squirrel under my son’s bed delivering its lovely fragrance to our home not to mention what it was doing to my carpet! I can honestly say I WAS MORTIFIED!!! I mean a lot of really gross things have happened over the years like the time two HUGE cockroaches crawled out of Shelby’s lunch in Pre-K (yes, that is a story for another blog) but this was over the top gross. Shelby was a trooper about it all. He and a close, I mean really close, friend tied handkerchieves around their faces put on gloves and went on the retrieval mission. The squirrel was removed but the oder was another issue. 

This was one situation where it was completely legitimate to blame the dog. She is such a sweet thing, but oh my goodness, what was she thinking! It has been a couple of weeks and the oder and my embarrassment have finally subsided. 

I will never get the suzy homemaker award for keeping the perfect home but that’s ok. I am an imperfect mom raising imperfect children. Our life is a journey of ups and down, glorious moments and totally gross ones, too. I might be mortified every now and then but I wouldn't change a thing because it is a really fun ride.