It's About Maggots; You've Been Warned
Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 9:43PM We made it out to the playground today...I ran into a friend while picking Christian up from school, and she and her family were going to play for a bit outside, to "run off the wiggles." I told her I would meet her over there shortly, went home for Eliana's shoes (I was carrying her-it's faster sometimes), and soon headed back out to the park that is on the other side of our church.
It was a balmy day; it felt tropical here. We all thought that any minute the skies would open up and the rains would come, but they never did. But it wasn't so hot that we didn't want to be outside, so they got to run around with some friends and burn off some energy.
This park lies next to a creek (it's a bit bigger than a creek but it isn't a river, you know?) and the kids love to go down there and feed the ducks, or just get dangerously close to the edge where the grassy bank goes down to a cliff-like dropoff which, of course, goes down to the (really nasty) water. There are a couple of ledges also built in to the ground, almost like steps made out of dirt and stone which run all the way down the length of the creek until the small dam just before the road. I'm sure none of this is easily pictured. At any rate, the kids discovered some dead, maggot-filled fish rotting on the lowest of these ledges.
Lovely, no? I'm sure that's what you were NOT expecting me to write.
They thought it was so fascinating to see them; maybe not to smell them, but they would not stop looking. I could not stomach such a thing. I can hardly stand to look at the meat from the grocery store that I am about to prepare when I make dinner.
Christian was running around with another little boy playing some game and had not been informed about these fish. I had Eliana on the swings and slides and other areas of the playground, far away from stinky, rotting animals.
Suddenly, there was Christian over near the ledge, without his shoe on, and one of the other kids was running around yelling to all the moms,"Christian stepped in the maggots!" over and over. Christian stepped in the maggots?! How on earth did Christian manage to step in the maggots? Which means he stepped in dead fish. Oh, how did he do that?! I grabbed Eliana up onto my hip and headed over to where they all were, excitement and disgust all over the place. Another mom had Christian's shoe in her hand, very gingerly holding it by a little tag on the tongue. She handed it to me carefully, sympathetically, and after confirming that I had nothing to put it in, she went to grab a plastic bag she had on hand. Generally, when I walk the block to the park, I don't take extra plastic bags in which to put dead-rotting-fish-maggot-shoes in. I'll have to make a list and be sure to put that at the top.
I was going to toss the shoes, because right now I don't have hot water hooked up to my washing machine (leaky connection), and it was just too overwhelming to think of how I would handle such grossness. In my kitchen sink?! Yes, just before I get the pork ready for dinner!
My friend told me that I should not throw the shoes away, but that she would wash them in very hot water at her house and get them back to me. Is that sweet or what? My friends here know about my crazy germaphobia, and are supportive and (more than) kind. At any rate, I gathered my kids together and told them we were headed home for showers...I felt all creepy-crawly, whether or not in reality there was a single thing on me other than all the regular billions of bacteria that hang out on my skin all the time.
I must say that poor Christian was a bit traumatized by the whole thing. First, he was down on the ledge that is right next to the water. This is a no-no. In his six-year-old excitement over the dead fish he went down there with a couple of other boys to have a look. I will never get this, but...that is what they do, isn't it? Even the girls wanted to see it! Blech.
Second, and more sadly, he was worried about the maggots. I missed what happened right after he stepped in or on whatever he did. I don't know what other kids said, for example. However, as I stood there holding his shoe far away in front of me, tears sprung up into his eyes and he said,"What if they eat your brain?! What if they eat my brain?!" I blinked and my eyes got very big and I thought to myself,"What did those crazy boys say to him after he did this?" Who knows. It might be his own mind that came up with that one. I looked at him and tried very calmly and with great sensitivity to tell him that that wouldn't happen because I'm not dead and he's not dead. Maggots only eat dead things. This conversation went on for quite a while...but I had pretty much expounded on all I knew about maggots already (they eat dead things); there are a lot of things I don't know about maggots. I'm afraid it was very unsatisfactory for him in the end and left him with the proverbial more-questions-than-answers.
I got some laundry started right away and we all got cleaned up, which I think made everyone feel better. I called Mike to give him a heads up on how upset Christian was about the maggots, and how worried he was. He told me he was planning on coming home soon.
He came in shortly after that and handed me a pile of papers and said,"Read this." I looked at the first page and saw a picture of a bunch of maggots and thought to myself,"Seriously? Gross." I started reading though. It was an article from a couple of years ago on the medical value of maggots.
I KNOW! You can't believe it. Or maybe you already knew this. It's weird, but apparently true. I'm also reading that it's going on over in London...you never know what those nutty Britons are going to do next. But they didn't come up with this maggot therapy. It's actually centuries old.
Now, they don't just use any old maggots; they breed and sterilise them. They are used to get rid of dead tissue in/on/around wounds and they leave healing skin behind, and alone! Amazing little creatures, aren't they? It seems to be more cost-effective as well as more successful than conventional antibiotics.
I think this is God's way of helping me take one more little step. One minute I think my head might explode because my son has stepped on a dead fish full of maggots. The next minute I find that maggots are not only not going to hurt him (or me!) but are actually used in hospitals in some places.
So be it, but I'm not so sure that I could undergo this particular kind of therapy...talk about the skin crawls.
if you dare
Reader Comments (4)
OK, I was eating my breakfast while I read this...I'll get you back!!
Being grossed out by maggots is NOT a germaphobe thing. It's a common sense thing.
Ick.
I want to know if Christian ever wears those shoes again even after they are clean!
Oh my goodness, I laughed so hard when I read this! You are so funny! Give Christian a special hug for me. ANd a special belated birthday hug to you too! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to tell you that! Love you, xoxo
You all are brave for reading! Mindee...I'll keep you posted on that-the jury is still out. J.R....I'm always so glad to hear from you!