Is that a bullwhip?

Outside my living room window, I just caught sight of my husband ascending a ladder perched against the side of the house, carrying a bullwhip. That in itself could elicit many comments, especially if I told you the whip hangs in the garage next to his Indiana Jones hat, but the fact of the matter is there is a creature scrambling madly within the walls of our house. Unnerving enough, it is appears to be contained within our bedroom wall. Thus, this morning I awoke not to the smell of coffee wafting up the stairs from the kitchen but instead to the scurrying of something Other. Unnerving. Rather than watch the confrontation between said creature and my husband as he is suspended fifteen feet above the ground (His weapon of choice is really a bullwhip?), I have chosen to blog, the last thing I should be doing. (Isn't there laundry to be put away? a floor to sweep? children to mind?) But I am exhausted, weary, drained and have not the needed energy to assert my will power and resist boring you with my thoughts.  And it is only Tuesday. All I really want is for the lovelies to be all snug in their beds dreaming of sugar plums and fairies and Cheetos while I curl up on the couch with my husband and watch a Woody Allen movie - one of his funny ones, like Play it Again Sam or Manhattan Murder Mystery - with a bowl egregiously filled with heavily buttered popcorn smothered in Parmesan cheese and a real Coke.  Nonetheless, I will share with you (aren't you terribly lucky?) a few things which I have gleaned over the past years from others much wiser than myself, things which I regard to be invaluable parenting advice:

The child who is annoying you the most and causing you to want to put your head through a wall is the child which you should hug, kiss, and love on most even if you don't feel like it and are unable to conjure up a good emotion, fake it - smile, kiss, whisper sweet nothings into these tiny ears even when you want to do the exact opposite - because as my dear husband once yelled down the stairwell of our two-flat in Chicago, "sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do!"

Baking soda is an absolute necessity within any household. Not only does it help combat and eliminate those nasty odors that linger and stink up your house and serve as a critical baking aid, when mixed with water, the paste will erase any blue or black ink marks that may mysteriously appear on your white wooden doors or cabinets. (Of course my children have never scrawled on anything they shouldn't.)

Finally, a glass of red wine or a bottle of beer at five o'clock (PM) is always a good idea.

Peace and goodness dear ones. Our camera is in the process of being fixed, so soon there will be less of my blather and more of my sweet ones' faces.

PS - Jared successfully rescued our disturber of the peace: It was a bird. It crawled up the bullwhip, out of its hole, and flew away. My husband is Indiana Jones!