Scared of Cricket

So, we're finally getting over the 'weekend of terror.' Long story short, we heard a cricket in E's room on Saturday afternoon. I had unknowingly instilled a cricket phobia in her poor, little baby mind when, earlier in the week a grasshopper surprised me by blessing me with his presence 2 inches from my face on a hand towel, as I was reaching for it after helping E wash her hands before leaving day care. I basically screamed like a victim in a Scream movie, waking up a few napping babies, as the room spun and a feeling of dread washed over my body.

E jumped too, and latched onto my sweatshirt so tightly, she lifted her feet off the ground and attempted to climb me like a tree.

"Oh!! Heh heh! Just a cricket!!" I laughed nervously. Nothing to be scared of! E looked at me skeptically, as I brought her face-to-face with him and said "Hi, buddy!" with a forced smile and shaky voice.

As fate would have it (because fate hates me), an actual cricket somehow got into E's room after the incident. While playing in there on Saturday, I started hearing a loud chirping. My first thought was that one of E's toys was making noise... not unlike the serial killer puppy I had a run-in with last week (see Yoohoo I See You post). No such luck. Mark and my nephew began pulling E's room apart hoping to find the little guy.

Meanwhile, E ran out screaming. They finally tracked the chirping to the corner of E's play area, but he was under the baseboard, out of reach. So, we put E's room back together and went on with our day.

Then nap time -- I put E in her crib and left the room as usual. She sometimes cries when I leave the room then usually falls asleep right after. This time, she let out a blood-curdling scream and a whimpering, weepy, "No, Mama! Scared bug!! Scared cricket! No cricket!" I explained to her that everything was fine, that the "bug" was a funny bug, not scary, cute! Lovable! Yes, the other day, when Mama nearly fainted and screamed like her life was ending... that was because the bug was just so gosh darn cute! She didn't buy it, and nap and bed time became a challenge for the next 2 nights -- sitting with her, talking to her about the bug, cuddling her, telling her bug stories. It didn't help that the cricket set up shop under her crib and serenaded her with loud chirping noises every hour on the hour. It was louder than my alarm clock and woke her up every time.

It broke my heart, because she's had so much exposure to bugs at day care and hasn't been afraid of them yet. I've been so careful not to show my bug-fear around her, too. "Way to go, Mama," I thought.

Then, Monday morning came, and I can only assume that the cricket was as exhausted as we were, listening to E's crying and my long, preachy monologues about bug life. Mark caught him attempting to escape right out the front door. He got a free ride in a bucket to the back porch, where we said our goodbyes.

I also moved E's crib away from the window, so she couldn't hear the outdoor crickets chirping. And, all of a sudden, she's going to bed by herself, sleeping 13+ hours, and not making a peep all night. Next time I'm reaching for the Raid.