Creeped Out

This post is for my sister-in-law, Kristi, who I know will be as creeped out as I am, and for all of those who have lived with me, and my arachnophobia, in the past.

On Thursday we went to the park with some friends.  It was a pretty windy day and so I took jackets for everyone.  Kai wanted to take his fuzzy fleece orange jacket.  We had a good time visiting with our friends, and Kai had a great time exploring the drainage ditches, trees, and bushes with their oldest son.  When we got home that afternoon, I took all three of our jackets and placed them together just inside the doorway on the floor of our master bedroom.  They stayed there the rest of the day.

Friday morning I was cleaning up and so I picked up the whole stack of jackets and draped them over the back of the couch in our living room.  I knew we would be going out to play soon and that with the wind, we'd need them again.  Just a few hours later I was getting everyone ready to go out.  I held up Kai's orange jacket and told him to put it on.  He reached out to put his arms in and stopped.

"What's that?" he asked.
"It's your jacket.  Put it on.", I replied.
"What's that?", he asked again.

This time I looked to where he was pointing and without everything completely registering, I began to place the jacket on the counter next to where I stood.  Once the jacket was on the counter I got a very clear look at the large spider that was just relaxing on Kai's jacket.  Now, I have to insert that I've been doing very well this last year or so in controlling my reaction and taking care of things calmly.  Kai has developed a fear of bugs that we attribute to me and so I've been working really hard on managing my reactions and the things that I say.  But this spider was different.  It was big.  It wasn't your normal house spider.  I was afraid and having a hard time controlling it.  I asked Kai to help me find the vacuum.  Turns out it was right behind me in the living room, I was just too freaked out to think clearly.  We wheeled the vacuum in and after extending the extension as far as it could go, I stood three feet back and did my best to suck that darn spider to oblivion.  The thing is, we never saw the spider in the vacuum collector and so I couldn't be 100% sure that it was gone.  I tried talking Kai into wearing a different jacket, but he wouldn't.  So after a few minutes and repeated questioning from Kai ("Is the spider gone, Mom?"), we put the jacket on and went outside.  Crisis averted.

Fast forward 16 hours.  It's 4am and Finn has just woken up.  As the temperature drops significantly at night here, I have a stack of fleece blankets on the floor next to his crib.  After getting his bottle and medication ready, I grab a blanket, wrap it around him, and pick him up.  I give him his meds (all 4 pills!) and his bottle and then move into the recliner.  At this point I suddenly think, "What if there's a spider in this blanket?"  I rationalize with myself that it's 4am, I'm still freaked out from the spider earlier and that I was letting my imagination get away with me.  Finn cuddles and drinks for 15 minutes and then falls back asleep.  So, I quietly place him in the crib and as he rolls over I realize that he's going to need another blanket as the first one is now under him.  I grab another and as I'm doing so, he wakes up and wants me to hold him again.  We go back to the recliner with 2 blankets this time.  After another 15 minutes he's asleep and I place him back in the crib.  He wakes up again, but this time I continue to our room.  He started to cry, but that's not new either.  He normally cries for at most 5 minutes and then goes back to sleep.  So, I laid down and waited.  Fifteen minutes later he's still wailing.  It's nearly 5am now and I'm awake enough to realize that something is wrong.  He doesn't really ever do this.  So, I trudge back to the room pick him up and we snuggle again.  Once again my mind asks, "What if there's a spider in these blankets?"  And once again, I dismiss it.  I leaned back in the recliner, pulled my feet up underneath me and closed my eyes.  Twenty more minutes go by and he's finally in his crib asleep.

So, this morning Finn sleeps in a little and Kai, Reid and I enjoy our snuggling time on the bed.  After a while, Finn joins us and we all play.  About an hour after we'd all been up and playing, I need to take Finn in for a diaper change.  In the daylight I see something on the recliner.  With a closer look I realize what is there.  A half-squashed spider of what appeared to be the same variety that was on Kai's fleece jacket yesterday.

I'm now officially creeped out.  I seriously sat on a spider last night and squished it!!  I'm not completely sure that the spider was in those blankets, but that's my guess.  It's either that or the spider was a hitch-hiker that came into Finn's room on my pants or socks.  If that's the case, then I wonder if both spiders came out of my bedroom.  Or are the spiders getting cold at night too and finding warmth in our fleece.  No matter what the answer is, I just want to say UGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!