The Joke that Backfired

Poor John! This time the joke was on him and he was NOT happy about it....can't say that I blame him.

Before leaving for Brazil, we spotted a plastic toy cockroach that looked disturbingly realistic. John thought it would be funny to play a joke on Daddy once we got to Brazil by hiding the toy cockroach under the bed and seeing what might happen. Or maybe John just wanted to get it to play with and I was the one who thought it would be a funny joke, I can't remember exactly how it happened.

Anyhow, cut to Brazil....he hid the thing, Anthony was somewhat surprised and hilarity ensued on the part of John and Carina.

A few days ago, John went into the 'frustrated club' - a name he's given to small nook in the wall of our living room. It's about 3x3x3 feet and I've hung a little curtain over the front and basically just sweep their toys into it about ten times a day to keep some semblance of order in the living room.

So, John heads behind the curtain of the frustrated club, I go upstairs to fold laundry and I hear him a few minutes later screaming "Mommy, mommy....it's an emergency!'. Well, this is the first time he's actually used 'emergency' in its proper context. He tells me there's a cockroach in the clubhouse, and he was playing next to it, thinking it was the toy when all of a sudden....you guessed it: it moved!

Poor, poor John -

this thing is enormous! John runs away upstairs terrified, and Carina and I are left to deal with it - remember, Anthony is in the Amazon for two weeks, so no help there. I'm pretty good about spiders, snakes and other assorted crawlies, but I really can't stand cockroaches...especially the really big ones.....so I may have screamed a little and maybe even jumped up on the couch.

But it was the kids' clubhouse and my home and it had to be dealt with. Carina came to the rescue - she was totally fearless and went in with a broom while I stood by with a net. Together we herded the thing out of the house while John yelled at me from upstairs to 'not hurt it'. But when it tried to run back in the house, I was forced to whack it to its mushy end....forgive me, John. Not pleasant.

I can only imagine how John must have felt, playing quietly with his toys in that small little cave, when suddenly the real cockroach sitting next to him began to move.....

(okay, he doesn't look so fearsome in this picture, until I tell you that the ball here is slightly larger than a tennis ball!)