My youngest son is going through what I am hoping is just a phase.
He spends much of his spare time ridding our house of pests even though there are few of them surviving now that I finally gave in and hired an exterminator.
The only insects the bug man couldn’t guarantee to protect us from were the ones that drive my youngest son nuts: spiders.
Whenever he spots an eight-legged creature wandering around our home, Ronnie runs for the hills, or rather, the kitchen cabinet.
That’s where I keep his Spider Killer, a can of insecticide I picked up at Home Depot. When I went there in search of something to kill the few spiders that somehow survived Terminix, I didn’t expect to actually find anything with the words "Spider Killer" emblazoned across the front. I would have been happy with a generic formula that listed spiders among the many pests it could wipe out.
My little trip to Home Depot was more of a way to convince Ronnie that I was doing my part to help him in the fight against the few remaining spiders in our home.
In other words, I thought he would appreciate my efforts, even if I returned home empty-handed or with just another can of bug spray.
When I went in the store, I immediately asked for help and was taken to an aisle of products to annihilate all sorts of creepy-crawly creatures. The salesman recommended I go with something heavy duty, but then I spotted that can of Spider Killer.
It was exactly what I needed to show my 10-year-old that I care … without arming him with enough chemicals to wipe out the whole Zich family.
Now, when Ronnie sees something wiggling across the floor, he arms himself with Spider Killer and fires. Then, he comes to me with a full report about his most recent kill.
If I happen to be at work, he saves the dead spider for me to inspect when I get home. Yesterday, there was one waiting for me underneath a Tupperware container in front of the TV.
I’m not sure if my son’s sudden zeal for zapping spiders has as much to do with arachnophobia or whether he is simply reacting to the fact that he is on his own more this year now that I am working at a different school.
I’m just glad we were able to come up with something that would make him brave enough to face his fears instead of running to his older brothers for help.
They were getting a little tired of defending him against what usually turned out to be tiny pests.
Once in a while, they made the mistake of saying the number one word that will set Ronnie off on a tirade: baby. (When Jimmy and Tommy say it, they tend to stretch it out into, "baybee.")
It is a fine balance I am trying to maintain in this home with two working parents and three boys attending three different schools. If I can find the answer to one of our dilemmas in a two-dollar can of bug spray, life is good.
Of course, it’s only the second month of the school year!
A mother of three boys, Pam Zich has been married to a Marine for 18 years and currently lives in Springfield, Va. You may e-mail her at homefront@stripes.osd.mil or visit her Web site at www.lifeonthehomefront.com.
