The Difference Between Boys and Girls

So I was outside today cleaning up my dog's "business" as Tanner was playing in the yard. He starts casually saying, "Momma, Momma..." to get my attention. I don't look up from what I'm doing, but still say, "What?"

"I found a rat."

I look up at him, and he is holding a dead baby rat IN HIS HAND! (Likely killed by Dakotah.)

So I do what any mother would do...

I scream.

And then I yell for him to drop it immediately! Poor kid must have thought he was in trouble by the way I was reacting. I then tell him not to touch ANYTHING with his hands as I rush him inside to wash his hands and face with Lysol soap. Then of course feeling yucky myself just from having seen it, I wash mine too.

Of course I calmed down quickly to let him know that he wasn't bad, but that I only freaked out because rats carry diseases and can make us sick which is why I rushed him to wash his hands. I also let him know that he is not to ever pick up a dead animal again - he is only to tell Mommy or Daddy about it so we can get rid of it.

So as I went back out to finish picking up after the dog, I was thinking to myself...only would a mother of boys have to deal with this. Sure, a 5-year old girl might TELL you there is a rat and point it out, but she would have never actually picked it up and brought it to you.

Oh, and as for the dead rat that he dropped in our backyard, yeah, I had to scoop it up with the pooper-scooper and drop it in the bag with the rest of the dog's "business".