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How to Survive Life in the Suburbs

Bats and Beach Blankets

in Uncategorized on 05/14/09


It was late into the evening. Snoring Hubby would not let up. I nudged him, rolled him over, shushed him, begged him. Nothing worked. That man was tired and snoring was on his agenda. I finally gave up, grabbed my pillow and trotted down the hall to the ever so quiet spare room. Blissful quiet, sigh. Night night.

I don’t know how long I was asleep. An hour ..two? When I heard thwap thwap thwap thwap. I felt a small stirring of air near my face and ever so gently woke. There it was again….thwap thwap thwap.

Grabbed that pillow again and head back down the hall to the master bed. Why was I crawling in my wee PJ’s? Yawn. So tired. Back into our marital bed.

“Honey” I whisper. “Can you go scare the bird out of the house?”
I think I woke us both up with those words. Bird.In.House. Huh?

Hubby is awake now. Sits up in bed and turns on our lovely chic new bedside lamp.

AHHHHHH. THAT IS NOT A BIRD, THAT THING IS A BAT!!!

I scream and dive under the covers! Cowering like a frightened child. Shaking. He just sits and watches that hideous brown bat circle our ceiling! It leaves the master bedroom and comes back, leaves and comes back.

“GET IT….GET IT” I yell.

He just sits.

Hubby Says “I don’t know how? I play golf, that’s with a club..I play hockey…that’s with a stick, I play ball…with a bat. All the sports I play are with sticks. I need a racket or a net to get that thing.”

He is so calm and controlled. I am FREAKING out. Have just realized that when the damn bat is not with us it could be flying into one of the girls rooms.

I drop to the floor, and commando crawl back down the dreaded hall to shut my babies doors. Must not let the vampire creature near my darling daughters. Doors are closed, end of my bravery, duck into the closet to hide like the true girly coward I am.

Hero Hubby has begun to take action

*Warning rest of post is not PETA friendly

Hubby is swinging at bat with an over sized beach towel. Trying to stun it so we can get it out of our home. He is grunting, groaning swinging for all he is worth. (It is not easy to stop a bat armed with nothing but your PJ’s and a beach towel!) CRASH. There goes the new chic light. Finally he tells his oh so brave wife she can stop shaking and whimpering and come out of the closet and fetch him a shovel and pail to help remove one incapacitated bat. He has prevailed. The creature will bother us no more.
As I emerge from my hiding spot he yells
“What the F*&%#??? IT’S NOT DEAD!”
That bat got back up off my pristine beige carpet and started flying around AGAIN.

Hubby once again brandishes his weapon. The almighty beach towel. Smacks the chandelier a good one and then finally lays the bat to rest.

“Is it over?” I whimper.

“Yes” pants out of breath Hero Hubby, and then “Oh Crap..there is ANOTHER one!”

I will admit it, I’m not proud, but I was in tears by now.

Hubby battles Bat Number Two. He makes sure that sucker is dead..not just stunned.

We tossed a beach towel and two of God’s creatures in a garbage pail that night.

Battle of the bat lasted more then an hour and a half. When we finally ventured back to our marital bed, we left the bathroom light on….the ceiling fan too. I lay there trying to sleep, hearing every noise, fearing every movement. It was a lost cause. There would be no more deep snoring in Suburbia that night.

Bats in our house became a harrowing life experience. One I wish never to repeat. One that will give me nightmares and cost me precious sleep. We shall never tell the children. Can you have Post Traumatic Stress from an incident with a bat? Maybe living in Suburbia has made us soft.

Good luck to any of you who ever have to do battle with a bat.

  • « One Lovely Day
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    Comments

    1. Tiaras and Tantrums says

      May 14, 2009 at 8:22 pm

      holy crap – I would have FREAKED OUT!!!!

      Close the flue girl

    2. Loukia says

      May 14, 2009 at 8:04 pm

      Oh my goodness, are you kidding me? That must have been sooo scary… I would have been completely freaked out… a spider in the house freaks me out!

      Love your blog! 🙂 I’m also an Ontario mom blogger!

    3. Margo says

      May 14, 2009 at 6:42 pm

      Definitely. Blame all future problems on PTSS. That’s terrifying. Must say I laughed at your commando crawl to shut the kid’s doors. Go mom!

    4. Randi Troxell says

      May 14, 2009 at 4:43 pm

      OH SHIT!! yeeeeeech… all im doing is reading this and i have chill bumps all over me!!! but i looove your hubs speech about the sports he plays “i play golf, but thats with a club…..”- i would be all “doug shutup talkin and start killing!!!!”

    5. Manic Mother says

      May 14, 2009 at 4:31 pm

      Yuck! I would have stayed under the covers, I hate bats. We used to get them in our house when I was a kid, I remember my dad taking a tennis racket to them

    6. Kelloggsville says

      May 14, 2009 at 4:07 pm

      That’s just awful. It would take me days to settle down to restful sleep again. It’s not so much that they are bats but that they were so close. Birds creep me out the same way. Well done for not waking the children in the middle of it all!!!! Funny to read now but I really feel for you. x

    7. Stacie's Madness says

      May 14, 2009 at 4:02 pm

      yeah, not funny but yet, i’m laughing.

      I hear…don’t care to ever experience…that you can CATCH them in a towel and release them outside…but your way worked too. 😉

    8. Busy Bee Suz says

      May 14, 2009 at 3:44 pm

      This sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. JUST horrid.
      I hope you have your fireplace capped off now.
      I feel for you both and I also feel for the bats…they were thinking: “what the hell is this place and why are these humans screaming and hitting us?”

    9. Jenjen © GottaLoveMom says

      May 14, 2009 at 3:33 pm

      OMG! I would be screaming!

      I didn’t think they have bats in suburbia…Must be all that Twilight and True Blood series they’re watching! (lol)

      I would have thought the baseball bat will win over the bats!

      BTW, pick up the one lovely blog award next time you stop by.

    10. Jenjen © GottaLoveMom says

      May 14, 2009 at 3:33 pm

      OMG! I would be screaming!

      I didn’t think they have bats in suburbia…Must be all that Twilight and True Blood series they’re watching! (lol)

      I would have thought the baseball bat will win over the bats!

      BTW, pick up the one lovely blog award next time you stop by.

    11. theneatos says

      May 14, 2009 at 3:23 pm

      omigosh … overwhelming happenings in the middle of the night. But, a hilarious store for us!!

      I am glad you got them all handled.

    12. Marbella Designs says

      May 14, 2009 at 3:18 pm

      I love the your title, lol, but I sure would be terrified too! We have lots of critters around here and beautiful peacocks, but no bats, thank goodness.
      I’ve heard of a couple of homes around here getting a skunk, pee-u, and a racoon in the house leaving their patio doors open.
      Is there a barrier or a screen for the chimney? You don’t want to go through that again.

    13. Martha says

      May 14, 2009 at 3:03 pm

      This happened to my Mom when I was a teenager. My uncle came over and caught it w/a fishing net.
      My husband’s snores keeps the bats away.

    14. ModernMom says

      May 14, 2009 at 2:34 pm

      We think through the fireplace. Yuck!

    15. Sherry says

      May 14, 2009 at 2:28 pm

      lol–hate to laugh at your terror, but that is too funny!

      How did they get in?

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    Travel addict, sun seeker, coffee drinker, fashion lover, picture taker. This is a peek behind the closed and competitive doors of the suburbs. A place to come to learn about the best places to travel with your kids in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and beyond! stephanie@sassymodernmom.com
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