Boys Will Be Boys

I can't pinpoint the moment I became afraid of snakes. I don't even recall having a traumatic 'snake experience'. I just know that for as long as I can remember I have found snakes absolutely disgusting! There are many things I find repulsive about snakes. The first is that a snake has no limbs (that is just weird). The second being that a snake smells with its tongue. The third is that it's movement is unpredictable and bizarre.

I loved growing up in a household full of women. Although none of us are overly girlie, none of us have ever truly embraced the outdoors. We love to go camping, but you would never find any of us in the backyard looking for critters and creatures. On the few occasions that our lovely cat, Cuddles, brought in a snake- not even my Dad wanted to be near it. We don't do snakes! On the whole, we are not the biggest animal people. Some families love dogs, not ours. Others families want birds, gerbils, mice, or hamsters as pets, not ours. We are okay with cats and had a few when we were growing up, but that is about it! Case closed.

So, this brings me to my current dilemma/issue. Being that I am fearful of snakes and have 2 sons of my own- I know that they will forever taunt me about it. I know that they are going to be going into the backyard searching for snakes, just to see how high Mom will jump when she sees one! The one thing I didn't anticipate is just how early this taunting would start.

Michael keyed into my fear sometime last year. Since then, I have had rubber snakes under my pillow, in the glove box of my car, and in my cupboards. They frequently sail through the air in my direction and when I scream- Michael and Damien laugh in unison. Claire is not so happy that my fear has been exploited. She gets mad at them when I get scared and will tell me if a snake is hidden somewhere. While this is all fun (at least in the boy's minds) I do know that the snakes are fake. Sure, I still scream but in the back of my head- I know they aren't real.

This past weekend, we went to my nephew's 11th birthday party. It was at his grandparent's house which is situated on top of a mountain where the climate is very warm and dry (a snake's paradise). They've told us that there are rattlesnakes up there and just the thought of that makes me crazy! I was making a pizza when my brother-in-law told me there was a dead snake down by the pool bathroom. What? Are you kidding me? Shivers went up and down my arms. The kids wanted to see it so I bravely took them down there. After all, what could a dead snake do to me? We found it. It was a baby snake. I moved it with my shoe and then took the kids back up to the party and I was DONE with the snake.

A little bit later, Damien, Michael, and my brother-in-law Eric, went down to check out the snake. I overheard them saying it was a rattlesnake. Get out of here! I had to check it out myself. I was holding Matthew and went down there. They were showing Michael the rattle on it's tail and Eric asked him if he wanted to hold it. Of course he did. He grabbed it with two fingers and looked at it. He was checking it out when he slowly moved his eyes from the snake to me. "No." I sternly told him. Without hesitating, he threw it at my feet. "Michael, stop it." I knew he wouldn't stop so I took off running, Matthew in my arms, up the stairs toward the party. He went and picked the snake up and ran towards me. I was screaming. I am a total baby and I know it! He got close to me and threw it at me again. Except this time, it wasn't at my feet but coming towards my body. I had to bat it down with my hand. GROSS! I was growing increasingly angry that he wouldn't stop and kept running. But as I continued to run, he continued to chase me with the baby rattlesnake. He threw it for the final time and what do you know? It landed in my hair! At this point, the entire group was staring at me- probably wondering what in the heck was wrong with that lady! I felt it hit my hair and that was it. A few tears filled my eyes (I am a loser) and I looked at Michael, who was laughing hysterically, and I was so mad!

Yes, I chased my Mom with bugs when I was a kid, but I never threw them at her. I got just as much pleasure in seeing her run from me as I would have if I had thrown them at her. Yes, I did put grasshoppers on her stove and yes, I did chase her with the biggest moth I have ever seen. Yet, let the record show, I never threw them at her. I guess I need to get used to the whole 'boy' thing. I didn't grow up with it, but I now need to know that I should always expect the unexpected!

Above is a picture Michael drew me a few days before the 'throwing the snake incident'. He drew this to scare me and I kept it because the detail in the picture makes me laugh. The picture he drew is me- holding a snake. (Like that would ever happen!) I asked what was on top of my head and he said, "You know Mom. The way I like your hair . . . " I didn't get it so he added, "You know when you put your hair in a ponytail but make it look like a bubble on the top?" I got it. I love Michael and I love his spunk. And while I will never be okay with him throwing a snake at me, I will learn to love the silly things that boys do.