Snakes, Mice, & Adulthood!!!

This is for all of you mother's out there who have ever thought... "is it just me that is struggling with this?" Yes, I have to admit my friends blogs inspired me to write, and let you know that you are not alone!
Here is to knowing your an adult... when there is a copperhead snake hanging from your front porch at midnight, and you have to walk out the back door in the dark to a dark shed and feel your way around for a hoe to kill the copperhead snake because you know you'd never forgive yourself if you just let him go until your husband comes home in the morning. What if Mr. Copperhead is gone by morning, and later in the day when your precious 2 little boys who's lives depend on you stumble upon him, get bit and die? So it's time to be an Adult! I don't want to do this, but I've got to I am on my own here! Where are my 2 older brothers? Where is my Dad? Why does my Husband have to work all the way over in Chandler! What does any city girl whose been thrown in the country do in this situation? I call to tell my husband I love him, and if you don't hear back from me in 10 minutes call the ambulance! My husband was very against my idea to Handle this on my own, but it had to be done! So I took by hoe, walked out the carport door around to the front porch to find Mr. Copperhead still there, dangling from one of our rod iron posts ready to kill his prey... ME! The adrenaline kicked in, and I swallowed down the huge lump in my throat, and decided some practice swings away from the snake would be a good idea since I had never done anything like this before... EVER!
I step back and take my practice swings with the hoe like a professional baseball player, and just as I step up to take my first real swing. Here comes Officer Foster with the Malakoff Police Department around the corner. My Husband called him to come save me. Needless to say, he killed Mr. Copperhead that night. After seeing the size of the snake uncoiled from our post, that was okay by me. 3 feet long, glad I took a pass on that one! This experience got me thinking though, how scary it is to be an adult now, with no older brothers to take care of everything for me, and a husband who works nights & is gone all the time... I've got to learn how to do this stuff right?
Apparently I did not learn my lesson well enough that night. So, God sends Adulthood challenge #2 my way last night during the crazy stormy weather. Once again, Adam is working and it's just me and the 2 kids. I get them to sleep, finish up all my chores, and it's around 10:30pm. I turn on the light to walk in my bedroom, and I catch something moving in the rocking chair out the corner of my eye. I tell myself it's just my mind playing tricks on me, but unfortunately it was for real! A little brown field mouse looking at me, sitting on the arm of the rocking chair. His facial expression was like, "Do you mind turning that light back off... " Please God tell me you are kidding, my order of hatred for intruders is Spiders, snakes/mice. Snakes & mice are tied, because snakes can be dangerous, but the thought of mice living where we live, trying to eat what we eat, or eating the best rocking chair ever! The rocking chair that I rocked both my babies in, and still do on nights like tonight! AHH! So, I grab a hanger, and go after him. Needless to say that didn't work, he got away, but I at least ran him off my favorite chair. That now can not be set in until it is shampooed to kill mice germs!
Now comes my biggest challenge. I must set a trap, the real kind that snap & break there necks! This I have never done before, or watched be done before, or even attempted before! So, what does this city girl do... call her husband to talk her through this. Keep in mind my emotions are running pretty high by this point. Stewart Little got away, my boys are asleep in there beds, and what if he bits them! Surely me chasing him with the hanger out of his comfy chair might have made him mad, what if he decides to retaliate on one of my babies, or me when I'm asleep in my bed! Something has to be done! Once again, I get to be the Adult here.
Much to my luck, Adam is busy cutting up a tree that's down in the road and would not take my phone call. Who is going to be driving down a road, in a storm, in Chandler TX at almost 11 O'clock at night? You can't stop for a minute and take your wife's emergency phone call? Anyways, that's all I and Adam's chief have to say about that. So, now what am I supposed to do? I can't figure this stupid thing out, it keeps snapping at me every time I try to make it work!
So, I do what I have been trained to do my entire 27 years of life. I call my big brother Mark. His wife Jessica answers the phone, and can tell I'm upset so she gets Mark. He calms me down, and talks me through setting the trap. I made it with out it snapping a finger, which is good for a first timer. My brother was so proud. He stayed on the phone with me until i put the trap on the floor in my room, and evacuated the premises. I did it! Like a big girl, all by myself... almost. I slept on the couch, and Trenten was a little taken by surprise when he woke around
3am due to the storm. He came running to my bed, and I wasn't there? He started crying which woke me, and I went & got him. We were lying on the couch, and he said, "Momma, why you on the couch?" So, I told him about our little visitor. He said, "That's okay momma... Daddy will get him when he gets home!" Yeah, I hope so!!!
Needless to say, I am learning the hard way over the last couple of weeks what being an Adult is a demanding job! I like you Flo found myself lying on the couch pondering the is this possible side of life? I have 2 kids that are growing to fast, and they depend on me? The thought can be overwhelming at times... if someone would have told me 10 years ago that I'd be married, with 2 kids, hunting snakes & mice I'd told them they were nuts! Yet, here I am. When I'm cuddled up on our little couch with Trenten at 3am... Adulthood is worth all the worries, woes, and strife for some moments like this.