I grew up having the best childhood a kid could ask for! My family lived on 99 acres of beautiful New Hampshire ground. Much of the property was wooded with tall oak and maple trees. There were tall grasses and plenty of ponds and creeks to splash and play in as a kid.
I was the youngest of four kids. My three older brothers were always busy with something and playing with a girl wasn’t on the top of their list. It’s no surprise that I bloomed into quite the little tom boy! I was always outside either playing with farm animals, toads, dirt and mud or nailing pieces of wood together! Another pastime favorite was exploring the woods and fields on the property. And that’s when my irrational fear of ticks developed.
I had just crawled into bed and was laying on my back under the covers. My head poking through and resting on my pillow. The good old Sand Man just about had me drifting away in slumber when I felt it! The unmistakable little tick body crawling right across the brow of my face as I lay there! What do you do in that situation? I was a young girl and I hated ticks! So in the darkness of my room, I flicked it off my forehead faster than a chicken pecks ants! It didn’t take me long to realize the consequence of my action.. Now it’s somewhere in my room and I have no idea where! Oh the doom! I spent the next day searching my room and never found it.. I secretly hoped it crawled into my brothers room!
If ticks & brothers weren’t invading my privacy, it was mosquitos! It was around 1985 and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 7 years old. The old farmhouse we grew up in was not air conditioned which made for incredibly hot, humid New England nights. Windows had to be left open 24/7 for air circulation, but that meant mosquitoes would squeeze through any tear or holes in the screens. Mosquitos are not far behind on my list of filthy, dirty rotten, pests! The mosquitoes would enter the home in the evenings seeking out the carbon dioxide being emitted from our sleeping bodies. I swear they could detect it from a mile away! Apparently the other homes were sealed tight! It was almost a nightly occurrence that mom would grab the can of Raid and do her nightly “spray-through” of the home. Forget the awesome smells that Scentsy has… to this day, if I smell Raid, it takes me back to my childhood! Bedtime came and up the stairs I marched. I had just climbed into bed and was tired from playing all day and welcomed bedtime, unlike most kids! As I laid in bed trying to drift off, it started. At first it was far off. Then it got closer and closer. Before I knew it, the torturous sound of a mosquito buzzed furiously in my ear. It’s like they know that you’re helpless… laying there in the dark swatting at the air frantically. Then it hits you, you know what you have to do to end the misery. You HAVE to let it land and bite you. And once it does, you’ll know right where he’s at, and SLAP! You got him!
I must say, there isn’t much I’d change about my childhood if I could. But I often wonder how nice it would have been if we had Barrier Pest Control back then to do full yard treatments to help with Mosquitos and ticks. Although we may not be able to change the past, we can learn from it! That’s why I have Barrier doing my yard now! Give them a call. They service all over the Treasure Valley and more. 208-463-4533. You won’t regret it!
