Do You Like Bats?

Three of the boys and I have been doing a study of bats for the past month.  This, coincidentally, happened at the same time that some of my friends (we’ll call them that for now) decided to take a group to the Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area (That name is too long; I’m going to call it the OTWMA) to watch the bat emergence.

Some of these so called friends decided it would be entertaining to continuously remind me that bats are a lot like mice.  They know that I have a lifelong fear of the M-word.  Yuck!

But I listened to Helen Reddy as a child, so I knew that I could do anything….even overcome my fear of bats for one evening.  This is my gift to my children.  When they are complaining to their therapist that their mother ignored them I will say, “Hey, what’s-your-name!  I took you to the OTWMA to see that bats!”

We, and 70 of our closest friends, sat on benches not 30 feet from where the bats would emerge.  The nice OTWMA lady told us all about bats and she even passed around a bat that had been encased in some kind of fluid so we could all hold it and get a really good look.  Oh boy!  Can we have some rabies while we’re at it?

Then she said, “If you will all be really quiet then the bats will fly right around our heads.”  GULP!  I froze.  Then I heard giggling.  I looked over to see several of my friends in a cluster laughing at me.  I could see the wheels in their heads turning.  They were planning on absolute silence and possibly finding a video camera to record my reaction so they could play it at my 50th birthday party, or my funeral, which might be tomorrow.

I really need to find some new people to hang out with.

At 7:42 the bats came pouring out of the tunnel.  The whole group was so quiet and I have to admit that it was pretty amazing.  One of my boys whispered, “Hey, they look like birds.”  If only I could have convinced myself of that.

I decided to keep my eyes closed.  But then I saw Elijah closing his eyes and I knew…I had to sum up the courage to look.  It just didn’t seem right to make my 7 year old look at something if I wouldn’t do it.  I even took several pictures.  See?  I am a great mom.

Afterwards the other great moms kept coming over to me and saying things like, “I can’t believe you did that,” and “I was hoping you would start screaming.”

Have I mentioned that these are my closest friends?  I think one of them should have offered to buy me an ice cream, or at least have brought me a Diet Dr Pepper.

My Grateful friend even went back this morning to show her kids the bats returning.  Really?  I think there is something seriously wrong with these people.