Another unwanted creature

Sorry mom, I know how you shudder to think of any spider, much less a tarantula. But I must document all the good and bad here in South Africa.

I have been chasing another darn tarantula around in the house this evening. Life is never dull here! I was back in my bedroom and I hear the girls talking about spiders. I hear them say in their little English accents they have acquired “Is it real?” I glance down the hall and see this huge thing running towards the dining room. And I think, ah man, not again. I stand there for a few seconds trying to really figure out myself if it is real. I think a minute must have passed and I just stood there in a daze trying to figure out what to do.

And finally decide no one else is going to go after it so I must. The odd thing is the girls were just sitting there watching it. They were a little nervous but nothing like they are when they see little eensy weensy spiders. Sienna usually goes ballistic when she sees a tiny one. Just yesterday, she saw one about the size of a pea and she was crying like crazy.

But not tonight- She was standing on the couch saying “froggy LOVES HUGE spiders, that’s froggy’s spider”. I had to walk by the thing to get into the kitchen and get the bug spray. It hunkers up against the wall and then takes off running. All the while I am running behind spraying. The spray seems to do nothing but put fumes into the house and make me slip all over the place. I was chasing it, spraying and sliding.

I get the broom and try to get it and I break the broom hitting it. By now, it is sitting on my dining room drapes and I have gone back to trying to spray it. Mission accomplished (or at least I think). It is soaking with the bug spray and in a ball. So, I go back into another room to try and calm myself and try to get my knees to stop shaking.

I hear Sienna yelling “mamma, it’s crawling again, maaaammmmmmaaaa”. And there it was half crawling, half dragging itself across the floor. Enough is enough, I get a shoe and whack it. And the girls were so interested. I think maybe because it is so big, they think it is more like an animal than a bug. Who knows? But they weren’t really bothered by it. Afterwards, the girls were telling me I was the best spider killer in the world and they were asking me where I learned how to kill them- was it at school when I was little?

So, that is the second one in the house in less than 6 months. I am getting used to them and not nearly as scared to go after them than I used to be. My biggest concern is always that it is going to get under something and hide. I had it cornered in the dining room. I had my massive wood table pulled out and all the chairs.

Afterwards, when I was cleaning it up, the girls wanted to see it. And then, of course, Sienna launched into some heated storytelling of froggy and how he has HUGE spiders. They brushed their teeth, listened to a story and went to bed withouth mentioning it again. I'm still sitting here 4 hours later trying to regain composure.

Tomorrow, I have to go to Johannesburg for meetings and then to Polokwane on Thursday. I will be back home Thursday evening. Tammy is spending the night tomorrow night with them.

Today, we went to get their little pink leather ballet shoes. Sienna was so excited. Sofia was bored after a minute or two of trying them on to find the right size. Sienna kept posing for the lady. Sofia was wandering around pilfering in things in the store. In a few weeks, they have their first ballet show. Their first on stage practice is this Saturday. Should be fun!