Dealing with Pests

My children can be pretty picky eaters at times.  Alright, let's face it.  They are pretty picky most of the time.  There have been a handful of meals in which all of them will actually enjoy every item on their plates.  But the one thing I can always count on is their love of fruit.  All four of my children adore fruit and will eat the whole batch the day we buy it if I'd allow them.  

It's not too shabby of a deal, truth be told.  They may not eat all the meat or the veggies or the starch.  Hey, these days, my oldest is boycotting pizza.  But fruit has almost all the vitamins and minerals they need, with a few exceptions.  So far none of them are lacking in Vitamin D or iron, the main concern of their pediatrician. So when they decide to reject their meal after taking the mandatory three bites, I still have the good ol' fruit to fall back on, and it makes me feel good that they are definitely not going to starve, neither are my children going to be malnourished.

Thing is, they are not the only ones who are getting their fill.  We have had some unwanted guests the past few weeks, and it's getting to be a chore ridding our kitchen of them.  Fruit flies.  Here I interpose (probably to the chagrin of my English teachers) that though fruit flies is not a sentence, it could be in an imaginative way if I allow the exaggeration of an imperative.  I.E.  Fruit flies - you finish the sentence.  Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program.  Fruit flies have become an annoyance in our kitchen lately.  Though our fruit never is left uneaten long enough to go bad, these pesky gnat-like creatures invade our space for the desire of this greatly appreciated food.  I suppose I should be grateful we don't have a bat infestation, as other people I know in Georgia have had, but the itsy bitsy little fruit flies bother me.  

They like to fly around the kitchen as if they own it and settle down on some surface.  When any of my family goes near to swat them, a whole swarm gets up and flies about our heads again for a few moments before settling back down again, as if to say, "You got some food for us; you're not going to make us leave that easily."  They think they own our kitchen.

I guess from a certain point of view, they did for a while.  For a time, I resigned myself to having them in our house.  I thought since I had fruit I was going to have to live with them.  I mean, they are such a tiny creature after all, and what harm are they, really?  So I would shoo them away and then just sigh and go on with my business.

Then one day I woke up.  I looked at the pesky little swarm and thought, Enough!  Aside from the fact that they drive me nuts when I’m trying to clean or cook, they do in fact leave an unhealthy legacy behind.  They, like all other flies, eat from the surface and then regurgitate their food back onto the surface.  Just the thought was appalling enough to make me say, Enough!  So I took my first step in purging my house of these little fruit flies.  I bought a Venus Fly Trap.

That won me tons of brownie points from my son, Nathaniel, as he has a fascination with the carnivorous flora and has been asking for one since last year.  I wouldn’t put it past him to have prayed those little buggies in just so I’d get him one!  The only problem is that these Seymours will only eat a certain number of insects before that particular head dies off.  Granted, ours has been constantly growing new leaves and mouths, but it hasn’t kept up with the pests. 

So, glad as we are to have our new familial addition, we had to take more drastic measures.  Because of Nyssa’s allergies, we have a pest control company that comes out once a quarter and however more often we need them.  So I decided to ask our case worker, as it were, about dealing with our infestation.  The problem, it appears, was quite simple.

We simply had to find a solution that was more appealing to them than the fruit.  He gave me a little covered cup that had a solution with red wine vinegar in it and told me to place it on the windowsill inside.  It was quite a simple answer, really.  Red wine vinegar is like honey to those flies and they flock right up to it.  

Some days I get so busy with housework or am so exhausted that I mentally think of my children as those fruit flies.  I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's true.  They come flocking toward me and climb over me and do all they can to get my attention.  On those days, especially when I'm hurting badly, I initially want to swat them away and tell them to go play somewhere else.  But they keep coming back and swarm all over again.

But shooing them away does not help any more than trying to shoo away the fruit flies.  They love me, they want to be with me, and they are not going to leave.  Even in the moment of the times I give in to the impulse to send them off, something in me goes sour and my whole attitude shifts.  Deep down, I realize that, so I stop myself from sending them into another room and try another tactic.  I give them something:  I give them my time and my heart.





If I'm cleaning, I give them simple chores that take just a minute or two and turn it into a game.  I let them sweep the kitchen floor and make the choice to not comment too much on the peas or carrots they missed.  I count slowly so they can run up and put their clothes in their dresser before I get to twenty and then praise them for winning.  We clean for 15 minutes and then we take a break for 5, where they go do their own thing for a while.

If I'm hurting and they want to climb for hugs and kisses, I lead them over to the couch where we can all sit together.  I sit on the ground in front of the couch, my youngest sits in my lap, the boys come in under my arms, and my oldest sits on the couch behind me, hugging my neck.  We read a couple books together until they get tired of being still and then they go off to play, chirping along together.

Yes, I can give my beloved offspring my time, love, and attention and they will be happier, as will I.  Luring my lovelies in for some quality time works a lot better than shooing them away.  It gets better results because then all of us are happy.  The children get the affection they need.  I get to smile and laugh with them, enjoying their company in a less harmful, more controlled setting.  Usually, they will make some remark that makes my day!  Most importantly, we get to spend a few minutes together making good memories that I hope will last a lifetime.