Soap

I know, the most recent practice guide for early learning and childcare states that ‘Sensory play must not be used at this time. Children should not use or handle play dough, sand and sensory tables, as these items cannot be easily disinfected.’

Yes, I understand the importance of that directive during this pandemic and I’m not really a rebel but play dough is one of our popular quiet time activities. I only have one non-napper here at this time so there isn’t any issue with multiple children handling the materials. Besides, there are many sensory play activities that I consider one time use only so why not…

I decided that microwaving Ivory soap would be the perfect quiet time activity – seriously – playing with soap – how could that be bad?

I had all the necessary supplies – I buy Ivory soap in bulk because I use it often but maybe that was the problem because this time there was an issue. I placed the soap in the bowl and put it in the microwave for 90 seconds like I usually do but when I took it out the soap had barely puffed up at all.
I poked it with a knife to see if it had at least softened a little and in doing so exposed the molten lava with actual flames! I quickly tossed it outside on a foil pan to cool off.

Wow, that was unexpected. I suspect that even though this bar of soap had still been in it’s wrapper the plastic from the bulk package had been removed and maybe this bar was too old and possibly dried out.

On to sensory soap activity two – making Clean Mud – first grate the soap;

Then mix it with the shredded…roll of toilet paper. Hmmm, I do have enough of that but just in case…we will use shredded tissue paper instead. Add some food colouring and mix. Yeah! Clean sensory play fun for one.

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A Mouse Tale

It was about a month ago that my husband first saw the little brown mouse.  It was scurrying about in the side yard beside the upper deck.  We were not particularly concerned at first – maybe the little guy was just passing through our yard on his way to somewhere else. After all, the side yard is where the dog lives.  Mindy is an old dog but I’m certain a mouse would still feel intimidated by her.

A few days later my husband spotted the mouse again in the same area.  It was a bright sunny afternoon and the little mouse did not seem all that concerned by the presence of a human being.  I was getting concerned though.  The little mouse seemed to be content here – very close to my storage shed.  This was not a place I want him to make his home especially since he wasn’t very timid.

On our next trip to Rona we took a look at the various items available in the pest control aisle.  I certainly didn’t want to poison the little fellow.  At this point he wasn’t even being a nuisance but I didn’t want him to expand his family or move indoors when winter arrived.  We chose to get a live trap – if we caught him we could then relocate him.  I thought he might enjoy moving to the wooded area by the river.

We decided to get a Predator multi catch trap made by Wilson.  Just look at the picture on the box – cute little mice lining up to get inside — the ones already inside chatting excitedly about their upcoming move to their new home.  It was perfect.

We brought it home and set it up beside the steps where the little mouse had been seen to frequently visit.  We believed he probably lived under the deck.  We waited.  Every day we checked the trap but it was always empty.  In fact, for the next two weeks we didn’t see the mouse at all – anywhere.  Maybe he relocated on his own?

The instructions say the trap does not need any bait.  We wondered if maybe it did so on Tuesday we put a few Cheerios inside the box.  Then Thursday morning, as the children and I were heading out into the back yard to play, I looked over the rail into the side yard. Through the clear plastic lid on the trap I could see the little brown body.  It was huddled in the corner, motionless.  It looked….dead.  We assumed it must have had a heart attack from the ordeal.

We waited until after the last of the children had left for the day and then we went to empty the trap.  My husband was going to hold a bag while I opened the trap lid and dumped the poor little guy out.  As I picked up the trap my husband asked “What’s stuck on the bottom of the trap?”  I turned it over and saw two tiny little back legs and a really long tail hanging off the OUTSIDE of the trap door.

Eww, ewwwww, EWWWWW!  I dropped the trap – with force.  My husband bolted to the far side of the yard – I thought he might try to vault over the fence.  “Don’t throw it at me!” he yelled.

Poor little mouse.  It was supposed to be a safe, reusable mouse trap.  It turned out to be a single use mouse guillotine.  The mouse trap is in a bag in the garbage bin by the back lane.  It’s not the ‘new home’ I envisioned for the little mouse.  The trap could be used again – or recycled — but it would have to be cleaned out first and there’s no one here who’s willing to do it.

If we ever see another mouse we’ll have to find a different way to deal with it.