It's A Zoo Out There... And In Here

It has been a pretty creepy couple of days around here.  This place has always been a bit of a zoo; but this is getting ridiculous!

Yesterday, the Man of the House was outside where he has been pressure washing, sanding, and repainting the garage doors.  As he went to sand one side of the frame, he came face to face with this...

Yep.  That's a little ol' bat.  Who was hanging upside down getting his beauty rest right on the side of our house! YIKES!!

AS if that wasn't enough... today happened.

I was cleaning up in the kitchen.  As I finished up and walked out of the kitchen, this was slithering across the living room floor!

An approximately 5 foot long black snake was IN. MY. HOUSE.  I screamed.  I screamed a little more.  I yelled for the Male Offspring.  I texted the Man of the House.  The snake slithered along the wall and under the little wagon where I keep books for the grand kid. 

The Male Offspring trapped it under a plastic storage bin, where it stayed for a while.  We needed time to figure out our next move.  Finally, the male offspring decided to slide some cardboard under the bin - and the snake - and we carried the entire thing outside.

I'm glad all these critters are the sort which eat other, nastier creatures and nothing terribly dangerous.  But enough is enough!  The only animals I want living in my house are the cat and dog.

Controlling Fear

The words stared up at me from the page.  "In those early years, I was afraid of so many things that I tried to control everything" (Lisa Burke)  The sentence rang suspiciously true in my own life, and set my mind spinning.  Is the need to control things, to be in control - a symptom of fear? 

The answer that came back to me was a resounding: Yes, it probably is.

As women we so often feel the need to control things.  To manage things.  To multi-task.  So many women are managing their family - with kids in umpteen different directions, their homes, a marriage or other relationship, work, etc, etc, etc.  Admit it, how many of you can say you have "control issues"?

And what is it we're afraid of?  What is going to happen if we let something so?  What is the worst that will Really happen if we just take a step back and let a few chips fall where they may? 

Are we afraid of appearing not good enough?  Of being perceived as a bad mother?  That our relationship will fail?  That we will be found lacking or a failure? 

Can we find the courage to relinquish control of a few of our fears?  To jump into the deep end.  Let go of the handlebars.  Take our hands off the wheel.   To "let go and let God". 

I doubt the consequences would be as devastating as many of us imagine.  In fact, we might find a sense of freedom, especially from those fears that have control of us.