wanted: Pied Piper

I saw the mouse tonight. Once out of the corner of my eye, as it ran behind the stove. I said "yikes," or something to that effect and scared the kid. Rats. Maybe not the best choice of words...

After my daughter was tucked in I saw it again, darting across the nook off the kitchen, in that confused, scared, vermin sort of circular dash, and then behind the living room couch, I think. I got a really good look at it this time. This whole situation is grossing me out and pissing me off and all I can hear in my head is DeNiro as Capone, "I want him dead, I want his family dead..."
Yeah, I know, that's terrible to think, let alone type, right? Well, imagine finding mouse poop in the bottom of your toaster after you made your kid an English muffin. Try falling asleep at night imagining this little creature in your bedroom, in your child's bedroom, sniffing around for food, maybe setting up camp in her dollhouse. And what if he has friends? Shudder.

Last week I had the building come up again to look for the entry and they finally found it, after pulling out the kitchen cabinets next to the stove. I lived in a fool's paradise for a few days thinking maybe we actually had solved the problem without anybody getting hurt. So they didn't find all the holes or they sealed him in with us. Either way, this has got to end soon, and I'm afraid it won't be pretty.

Years ago, when I lived in Brooklyn and I had just moved upstairs in the building to a nicer apartment, I had a dream on one of my first nights in the place that my cat, Baby, had brought a mouse to me and was rubbing it against my cheek. It was soft. When I got up that morning there was a dead mouse in the middle of the kitchen floor. Gulp. I never saw another mouse in the house after that.
A few years after that, when I was living in Manhattan with M we had a recurring mouse situation, which he tried to solve with steel wool around the sink, etc. One night I felt myself being shaken awake by M. I was lying on my back, spread eagle, and there was my cat Henry, playing with a mouse on top of the covers between my legs. Yikes. We saw him playing with another mouse on a chair another night. After that, no mouse problem.

Unfortunately, Baby is long gone and Henry is now too old to probably help with this situation. He has lived in "the country" for the past year at my cousin's because the kid and I needed to remove all of our allergy triggers. I've been told that not all cats are mousers, so it might not help to even get a "loaner" when all that might accomplish would be runny and itchy eyes and congestion. And still, the mouse. Hopefully, mouse singular. And even more hopefully, not our uninvited guest for much longer.

kid tested?

There have been lots of alarms sent out lately about products made especially for children that are laced with horrible things like formaldehyde and carcinogens. There have even been some articles refuting these claims. Now I don't usually buy the Dora or Batman or other cartoon-tie-in bath stuff. My daughter has inherited my sensitive skin and we never use any bubble bath. I pour a tiny bit of Dove liquid soap as the water runs to give her some bubbles, but that's it. For shampoo I buy the No More Tears that I grew up on - how can that be dangerous? Sigh. I threw out the almost empty shampoo we had that was (of course!) on the dangerous products list and bought Burt's Bees and put it out of my mind.

Coincidentally a few days later during a bath we sprayed some detangler in her hair and when I wasn't looking she decided to give herself a spritz - on her head and face. When I looked the whole side of her face was bright red with a rash. Luckily a little calming cream took care of that, but it made me think about kid's products again and about marketing products for children (and their parents) and also the strength or dosage of those products.

I try to keep us as healthy as possible, but I don't want to overload my kid (or myself) with too many products. For the most part cleaning your hands with soap and water and just rinsing off in the tub is enough. I don't even think you need all that much soap when you bathe - it just dries out the skin, especially for dry skin types. Of course I'm supposed to then slather her with lotion when she gets out of the tub, many of which were on the no-no list, too.

When I was buying toothpaste for myself the other day I was trying to find just one toothpaste that didn't have extra whitening or mouthwash or peroxide or etc., etc., add-ons. My dentist told me I could buy a whitening toothpaste, but to only use it every once in a while - it's not a good idea to use it every day. When most people walk into CVS or Safeway are they thinking that they might be buying something that will erode the enamel from their teeth? No, they are just trying to have whiter teeth, because that's what we're all supposed to have, right? And I don't like Tom's toothpaste - whatever their mint concoction is, it actually irritates my gums, so "natural" products aren't always the answer. I finally settled on a toothpaste aimed at kids - it was the only one that had just fluoride in it, with no extras. So yes, I'm brushing with Crest Hannah Montana strawberry flavor. Or it might be cherry.

I have found that most over-the-counter allergy medicines are too strong for me, too, so I usually take the kid's doses or even products made especially for children. It's more than enough, and I don't get stuck with as many side effects. My daughter's pediatrician told me at our last visit that she only takes kid's products for her own allergies. This while she's writing a prescription nose spray for my kid. Hmmm...

I know that everybody's different and what might work for me and my family wouldn't necessarily work for others. I'm sure there are plenty of folks who can tolerate or can't get by without the "grown-up" medicines, whether OTC, or prescription strength. But I think we are going to try and dial down when we can all the "extra special" stuff that is available to us out there. Keep it as simple as possible.

lucky

I've never thought Friday the 13th was an unlucky day. In fact, aren't all the unlucky things supposed to be turned on their head on the 13th? Sort of reverse mojo?

I am respectful, sometimes wary of the number 13, however - could you make that 12 or 14 acupuncture needles, please? I also don't want to walk under a ladder - but that's just practical, right? Certainly many so-called superstitions are what we have accepted through the ages as good advice, such as:

• An apple a day keeps the doctor away
• Eating fish makes you smart
• A lock of hair from a baby's first haircut should be kept for good luck I don't know about luck, but it's a powerful totem and wonderful keepsake. My mom still has a lock of my hair somewhere to prove I was a strawberry blond baby
• To find a penny heads up, brings good luck In today's economy, any extra cash can't hurt!
• Washing a car will bring rain - that's more of a Murphy's Law than a superstition

When you believe in things
That you don't understand
Then you suffer
Superstition ain't the way
Stevie Wonder

I'm trying to keep a balance between the fun beliefs that I have decided to add to my personal repertoire through the years and the fears that try to crowd in, like money or health anxieties. Every day is a work in progress. Good luck!