October 26, 2009

Oh What a Tangled Web


I am not ashamed to admit that I am afraid of spiders. I can't stand them. Little bitty spiders are OK, but anything bigger than a penny terrifies me. When we lived in northern Michigan I nearly had panic attacks at the size of spiders I saw there. Their bodies alone were the size of a small child's fist. I'm creeping myself out just thinking about them.
I have tried very hard to keep this fear from my daughters. When I see a large spider I hold in my urge to scream. I've actually managed to take care of a few spiders that had the misfortune of coming into my home. If the spider is too big for my liking then I simply tell my daughters we'll wait for Hubby to come home and take care of it.
Unfortunately over the weekend I lost all sense of control. While I was at work Hubby and the girls went to a get-together at our neighbor's house. They had a grand time playing with all the Halloween decorations, including tarantula-sized plastic spiders. When I came home from work I saw one of the spiders. No big deal... it's just pretend. Then Cakes wanted to show me the spider. She brought it to me and I screamed. I couldn't help it. Even though I knew it was fake, something deep inside me just couldn't accept the fact that it wasn't real. Poor Cakes. I really hurt her feelings. She was so sad that I wasn't amused by the spider. Tortilla kept saying "it's just pretend, mommy." Hubby didn't help matters by laughing at me the entire time.
Hubby and I managed to divert their attention with a different Halloween toy... and I made Hubby collect the fake spiders and return them to the neighbor. I'm dreading what is going to happen the next time my daughters see a real spider. I should probably be prepared for lots of screaming. From me? From them? Your guess is as good as mine.

7 comments:

Stephanie Barr said...

Ironic that the spider pictured generally doesn't weave webs. OK, I've been around bugs and spiders most of my life and am generally fairly intrepid--except with spiders. Oh, I've killed more than my fair share (and big ugly cockroaches) and I'm generally OK, if I have a weapon and it's not actually on me.

Once any creature with an exoskeleton gets on me, I lose my mind. That applies to spiderwebs as well. I love the shirt that says, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself...and SPIDERS." *Shudders*

I will spare you the stories I know, compounded by the fact I always seem to live somewhere where the spiders are particularly toxic.

Good luck!

Sadia said...

Okay, the spider picture on your post made a scream rise up, although I quashed it before scaring my office mate.

I sic my cat on the bugs in our house, and have a fantastic exterminator come twice a month. My husband's in charge of bugs when he's home, but I do my best to put on a brave front while he's away. My girls are afraid of ants, but not spiders.

I almost quit my job a couple of years ago because of a cricket infestation. My boss found me a temporary office in another building so I wouldn't have to deal with the crickets. Oh, they were Biblically bad.

Maybe the spiders are why I so dislike Halloween.

Quadmama said...

My cats treat spiders and bugs like toys... so if I tried to sic my cats on them I would ultimately be left to clean up a mess.

maryanne said...

I'm not a fan of spiders bigger than a dime. We once had a sandbox that became spider nest-infested. As it turned out, the base of the sandbox was the perfect material for spiders to use to lay eggs. Not fun.

Quadmama said...

Note to self: do not buy the girls a sandbox.

Jacqueline Miller said...

Hang in there. Maybe your girls will become excellent bug squashers because of your phobia? I'm sure they'd love to rescue mommy.

Quadmama said...

Good idea... except they hate bugs. Oh well.

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