a first...

A first for Landon...really.

Tonight...as I was folding laundry and supervising Morgan making lunches for school tomorrow...

I heard what can only be described as a blood-curdling scream from Landon.

Call it mother's intuition...but I knew immediately what it was.

A scorpion.

I hate scorpions.

I have yet to understand the purpose they serve in our world.

I am not doubting The Creator...I'm just saying that I don't quite understand why these creepy little guys made it on the list of bugs to live in the desert.

Landon had stepped foot into his room and that foot landed on the scorpion (I have another name for these fellas...only I have a strict policy of not swearing on my blog).

He screamed in sharp bursts and I let him.

I have not been stung (knock wood) by one of these guys and I don't know how bad it hurts...so by all means...I let the boy scream all he wanted without the shushing that I would normally prescribe for my sobbing child.

His foot was almost immediately swollen and red.

We have never had a scorpion sting in our family... this was our first.

While I was nursing my son well...Mr C and Mikey had found the perpetrator...brought him out into the light and proceeded to end his little life with the bottom of Mr C's shoe (one from the Air Force One collection...a favorite of Mr C's).

It was a quick and precise execution.

If the duty of "scorpion executioner" were up to me...I would have given that little monster the business end of a hammer.

Seems a little more off putting than your typical Nike shoe bottom.

I loathe these creatures.

Just to see one at a distance is enough to make me cringe and squeal.

I called my mother to ask her advice on handling a scorpion sting...she suggested that I rub an onion on it.

An onion?

Hmm.

I would rather my child not smell like fajitas the next day at school...so I decided to go the Benadryl and ice pack method.

It seems to be working well.

Although...thanks for the suggestion, mom... maybe I'll try that one some other time.

Or maybe not.

So...Landon has earned special permission to sleep on the sofa tonight.

In our home...sleeping on the sofa is reserved for special occasions...scorpion stings just made the list of special occasions...right under birthdays, sleepovers and holidays that are accompanied with time off of school the next day.

I promised him I would stay up all night to watch him and make sure that he was okay.

Wonder if I can get Mr C to stay up with me and keep me company.

In the morning...I will be scheduling an exterminator to you know...exterminate.