Play'n Possum

In the mix of all the party planning craziness, life went on! And even though I had no time for blogging I did manage to take mental note (in the back of my very crowded mind) to remind myself to share this wild adventure! It all started last Tuesday morning when Jaxon came in from playing outside to tell me he had made a "new animal friend"!


As I flip the calendar over from September (to my favorite month of all time), October, I begin getting the itch to once again purge the closet! Instead of my own, this time I head for the boys' room. With their birthdays just around the corner I know it's time to make some room for new duds. I woke up that day with a plan to tackle not just their closet but their dressers as well. Things were going remarkably well that morning. Max was behaving and Jaxon was playing outside in the sand pile. I was making progress and was even able to have a conversation with a friend on the phone w/out too many interruptions.


Jaxon had been outside for about 10 minutes. He was in and out several times in those 10 minutes grabbing various different pieces of his farm equipment, (he was busy "harvesting his fall crops"). At one point he came up to me (while I was still on the phone) and told me to come out and meet his "new animal friend". I didn't really think anything of this because with it being Fall we are constantly seeing Preying Mantis (which Jaxon thinks are the coolest things). I assumed his "new animal friend" was just that, a Preying Mantis! I was wrong!!!


I asked my friend to bare with me as I humored Jaxon and went out to meet his "new friend". As I was walking out the door I even said to her that I was sure I'd be meeting a Preying Mantis! I got out the door and at the bottom of the steps of our side porch was Jaxon's little, blue wagon. Placed on the top of the wagon (like a lid), was another small wagon. Upon lifting the lid I discovered something I was not expecting... inside the wagon was a baby possum!


I did what any normal Mother would do and freaked out! I hung up the phone, grabbed the kids, ran back inside and made Jaxon go straight into the bathroom and wash his hands! The possum didn't just climb in that wagon, I knew he had touched it. As I regained control of the crazy, I began asking questions. Where did you find him? How'd he get in the wagon? Was he the only one? Was he awake or asleep when you found him? I thought the "new animal friend" was dead. I needed to get a picture of this to show Daddy otherwise he'd probably never believe me!


I grabbed my cell phone, quietly walked back outside (w/ both kids), put the kids behind me in a safe spot and removed the "wagon lid". To my surprise Baby Possum was awake! He had even climbed up the side of the wagon and was ready to go for a ride! I quickly snapped a picture and got everyone back inside again. Now what? So I then did what any Mother would do... I posted the "new animal friend's" photo to FaceBook and asked for some advice!

Here's "Baby George" in all his "so ugly he's kinda cute" glory, ready to go for that ride!

The boys and I then left the house for a few hours and let nature take it's course or the dog or whatever. Anyway, when we returned "Baby George" (a name suggested by a FaceBook Friend), was gone. I explained to Jaxon that his Mama had come to pick him up and that she was probably really missing him. I then went on to explain that we should never touch an animal w/out asking first and have continued to drill that in his little brain every day since!!!