There Was A Little Girl Who Spotted a Fly.........

Last Wednesday I put the kids to bed. We brushed our teeth, washed our faces, and read our books. We said our prayers and turned out the lights. Mommy went downstairs, snuggled into the couch, and attempted to finish a program I'd been attempting to watch earlier. Then I heard it. Screaming!!!

I rushed upstairs to see what was the matter! Caitlin was standing at the top of the stairs in utter hysterics. Tears streaming down her little face. Sobbing, screaming, unable to speak (or take a deep breath, for that matter). I was concerned. What could it be? She pointed to the wall, sobbing, and said "Mommy, there's a fly!!"

A fly?

My girl is in utter hysterics because of a fly?

I looked up, but could see no fly. I didn't disbelieve her. The day had been warm and we'd had the windows and doors opened. No matter how good my kids are at closing the screen doors, bugs still manage to get in.

But a fly?

But no, this was no ordinary fly. In fact, it was not even a fly. It was a spiderweb. The shadow of a spiderweb on the wall. That's what Caitlin was pointing at. That's what she was sobbing at. A shadow. Of a spiderweb.

All the normal Mommy niceness went out the window. My sympathy levels have gone waaaayyy down as her irrational fears of things like flies has gone way up. She is afraid of every bug, tree branch, noise, or wind storm that comes her way, and I'm tired of it! Every day there is some form of crying because of some fearsome creature she can't stand. This makes every outing a nightmare, and park days are the worst. There is no more sympathy left.

I marched her straight back into her room, put her under the covers, and sat there for a while. After she calmed down we said prayers again and turned on her new CD. She managed to snuggle under her covers and fall asleep. Meanwhile, I headed downstairs and poured myself a glass of wine, and again attempted to watch whatever program I'd been trying to watch before all this. It had been a long day anyway, and I can't remember if I ever finished what I was watching, or just went to bed. I was already drained, and my hysterical child wasn't helping much.

In her defense, I did find a moth upstairs the next day. This could have been the culprit. Still, screams?