Of Mice and (Wo)men
It’s a generally accepted opinion that when faced with the sight of a tiny, soft, fuzzy, pink-nosed rodent, most women will either shriek, jump onto a chair, grab a broom, or some combination of all three. I fall into the shrieking category. I’d like to say I’m not scared of something so little and harmless as a mouse, but I can’t help it. They’re just so....darn....cute. That might not make much sense to you if you’ve never been faced with the prospect of either killing one of the darling, adorable things or losing all your hard-earned food to its nibbly little teeth. I’m not scared of the mouse itself, per se. I’m more scared of myself. Perhaps a little frightened of the vengeance that will be wreaked upon my soul if I harm the tiny, helpless creature.
So I let Mark deal with them, and try to keep my shrieks to muted moans, else Lucy will come running.
You see, there’s a battle waging in the Hough household. Not family vs. mice, as you might think--because goodness knows, when you live in a 300+ year-old house, the mice are gonna come out ahead every time. No...it’s between me and my 5-year-old daughter.
Lucy is adamantly pro-mouse. She’s a mouse pacifist. It’s not good enough for her that we don’t use the violent spring-contraption traps...she thinks we should leave food out for them. She wants to make them Christmas presents. She names them.
I try to reason with her. I remind her of the time last year when a mouse nibbled through a bag in the cupboard and ate all her Christmas chocolate, leaving the golden wrappers to decorate our drinking glasses. I give her Exhibit B: my long-beloved ragdoll who now has a hole in her face. She shrugs, says I shouldn’t leave dollies on the floor where mice can get them, and asks why we didn’t just give the mouse his own chocolate.
I think St. Francis has himself a new follower. But the sad truth is that I can only blame myself for sharing some of my favorite books with her. Well, myself and Brian Jacques, Beatrix Potter, Robert O’Brien, and Richard Peck, to name a few.
lol! That is too cute! But I have to take your side, no mice in the house. They can be cute outside where they don't destroy everything :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! I love the idea of little, crocheted mouse Christmas presents :)
ReplyDeleteMy brother was the same way about spiders...spiders!!...at least mice have cuteness on their side!
Having killed hundreds of mice in my previous life as a scientist, I must admit I'm with Lucy here ... perhaps she can trap one and put it in a cage. Mice make good friends. I've always wanted to have a pocket mouse, but unfortunately, they do escape, but if you play with them, the will come to you ...
ReplyDeleteMaybe she should make catnip mice for the cat that wants to join your home ...
ps: I always petted my mice while giving them a lethal dose of ether.
Your daughter is a gentle soul! A friend to all. So sweet!
ReplyDeleteWho can argue with the logic of the innocent? :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's amazing how many MICE fill the MC role in children's books! Stuart Little, Ralph the Mouse, Despareaux, etc. I'm not scared of mice running about, but we have cats and they make the BEST mousetraps. We were also thankful for cats when we had an old house w/bats that came into it sometimes. There is NOTHING cute about bats, I can tell you...
ReplyDeleteI adore books about mice! And don't forget Margery Sharp. I grew up on Miss Bianca and The Rescuers, but I still shriek and leap up if I see a mouse. Especially the rather large voles we get out here in semi-rural Pennsylvania, one of which found its way into our house last year. Ick.
ReplyDeleteOur younger son (now 22) was just like Lucy when he was little. He didn't want us killing them either. He wanted a mouse as a pet.
Oh, I love her! She sounds like my kind of girl. ;)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you need a cat.
ReplyDeleteWell, just make sure she never watches that horribly depressing and gory cartoon series from the early 90's titled "The Animals of Farthing Wood." Produced at a time when censors were "de-violencing" Bugs Bunny and The Road Runner here in the U.S, it passed muster in the UK, France, Germany, and Spain... and made "Watership Down" look tame.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I prefer Aesop's "The Lion and the Mouse"... or Garfield. ^.^
I had pet mice growing up and in college, so I agree with Lucy. PRO MOUSE! :)
ReplyDelete