Stop, Drop and Roll

This week is "Fire Safety Week" at Mikayla and Macey's DayCare. Yesterday, when I picked up Mikayla, her teacher, Ms. Sharon, told me that when they were discussing how to evacuate a burning house that Mikayla got upset and burst into tears. Ms. Sharon said that she comforted Mikayla and told her that her house was not on fire. Ms. Sharon told me that she thought Mikayla was upset about her house potentially burning, and to talk to her about it. When we got in the car, I started talking to Mikayla about why she cried, and she started to tear up all over again. When she was finally able to talk, she said, "Ms. Sharon said if my house is on fire, I have to leave. I won't have time to grab my favorite toy...*sob*...that means I won't be able to have cow!" So this whole time, Mikayla was upset because she wouldn't be able to save her cow, not because her house was potentially burning down. I told Mikayla that we could always get a new cow, but I couldn't ever get a new Mikayla. Then she told me that she didn't want a new cow, she wanted HER cow!

This morning, coming to school, I found out the hard way that a colony of ants decided that the perfect place to build a mound was right by our driveway - right where I stand to put Macey in her seat. As I was putting Macey in her car seat, I felt an itch, so I itched my leg with my opposing foot. As I walked around to Mikayla's side to buckle her in, I looked down, and my legs and feet were covered with ants - from the knee down. I started yelling, and I yanked off my shoes. I started hitting my pants to get the ants off them. I already had 20 or so bites on my feet and ankles. As I was brushing off all the ants, they got on my hands and arms, too. When I was finally ant-free, the adrenaline wore off, and I could feel the pain and itch. Off-handedly, I said, "My feet are on fire!" Remember how I said it's Fire Safety Week? Mikayla tells me, "Mommy, Stop, Drop and Roll!!"