Another scorpion?

Remember when AB got stung by a scorpion not too long ago?

Well, it happened again. To him. And only him!

When Hubster is out of town, the boys like to camp out in my room. I've tried letting them sleep on my bed with me, but it just doesn't work out.

They hog up the bed, the blankets and the pillows. I don't sleep when Hubster's not here, so the couple of hours I do get to sleep, I want to be relaxing.

So they each get their own little pallets on the floor around the bed.

I had put the boys to sleep and I was reading under the covers using a flashlight. I heard a noise and started pointing the flashlight at the kids.

UB is in a deep sleep while AB is crying. He's holding his face saying that it hurts. I ask what happened, he says he doesn't know. I feel bad for the kid so I ask him if he wants to come sleep with me. Yes, he says.

He brings his pillow with him, but when he does, I see something crawling. I point the flashlight at it and it's a scorpion.

I yell for AB to turn the light on while I throw the pillow on the floor.

He runs for the light switch, I jump off the bed and run where the pillow fell. There is the little critter running around towards the bottom of the pillow. I grab a shoe and try to kill it, but it's not dying. I press the shoe on it to kill it, but by this time, AB tells me he wants to save it to show it to his dad.

I run to the kitchen to get something to put this in. A jar.

I get the jar and put the scorpion in it. But I guess I caught his front arms, whatever they are called, because it couldn't go down to the bottom of the jar. So I open the jar , let the scorpion out and somehow it goes back in on it's own.

Sucker.

Once the culprit is caught, I look at AB's face. He's complaining that it hurts and that his tongue is numb. I of course start panicking. I wasn't here when the first scorpion bit him so I didn't know what he felt back then. Of course, the other one stung the tip of his finger. This one stung his face.

I call Hubster, because he's going to be able to do much since he's in New Mexico. I call my mom, because she can do much for me too because she's in San Antonio.

I then look online and it says what to do. It tells us to go wash it with soap and water. Done.

It tells us to put an ice pack on. Done.

It tells us that if the numbing of the mouth persists, that I need to take him to the ER. What?

By this time, I am going crazy, but in a non-crazy kind of way.

I put UB on the bed with us. He has no clue what is going on. AB is trying to tell him that he got stung by a scorpion again and UB is just looking at us like we are bothering his sleep.

By the time AB and I are relaxed, we get in bed. But when I get in bed, I realize that I am not going to be able to sleep because I'll be worried about AB.

And also because the boys pillows had taken over the bed. It was pillow,me,pillow, UB, pillow, AB, pillow. I had a tiny, tiny space to sleep on.

I waited for AB to fall asleep, then I did. But then at 1:30 I awoke to a loud thud. AB had knocked down the nightstand by his side. I get up to pick it up. Both boys are still asleep.

I try to go back to sleep, only to have UB use me as his pillow. Then AB wakes up and says that UB wasn't letting him sleep.

Off I go to sleep on the couch. 2am is the time you make these crazy decisions. Especially if you are tired.

Of course, falling asleep on your own couch is just weird. I heard more noises, the dog barking and then of course the bright light coming from the thermostat. The sacrifices we parents make for our children. But that's the moment that I realized that I was sleeping alone on my bed the next night.

The next morning, both boys woke up bright and cheerful. I on the other hand, was not. I was hoping for a nap, but that didn't happen either.

I asked the boys if they were sleeping on their beds the next night. No, they said, we'll just sleep on the floor. But what about the scorpion, I asked. We are going to sleep on one big pallet, that way if it stings one of us, the other one will get stung as well.

If that isn't brotherly love, I don't know what is.

Here is a picture of the scorpions that stung AB. The curled up one is the first one that stung his finger. The other one stung his face.

Not to worry, he's fine. Ready for the next scorpion that crosses his path.