The Tick Whisperer

I'm getting pretty good at taking ticks out of my kids. Lincoln took Jake upstairs tonight to change his diaper and get him ready for bed. A few minutes after he went up I hear him yell down "Hey hon, we've got a deer tick up here." Luckily I've starting keeping a "tick kit" put together since we've had so much trouble with them this year. I grabbed my tools and up I went.
I walked into Jake's room and he was laying on his back, with his diaper off, and his legs spread. My first fear was that it was on his penis or something but luckily it was just in the crease of his leg at the top of his thigh. Deer ticks are actually considerably easier to get out than dog ticks but they're also a little scarier because they carry lyme disease. This one wasn't too deep into Jake's skin yet but deer ticks are very small and you have to get in close to get them out. I made a deal with Jake...I promised not to hurt him if he promised not to pee on my head. I'm not entirely sure I kept my end of the bargain since he started screaming when I put the rubbing alcohol on the tick but he kept his end of the bargain and didn't pee on me.

Tomorrow we're off to Martha's Vineyard. Jake got a tick there last summer so I actually had my tick kit already packed for the trip. Last year he got a deer tick while we were there and I had to scrounge up rubbing alcohol from a first aid kit in the house that we rent and took Tracy's tweezers out of her makeup bag. This year I'm coming prepared. Hopefully I won't need it though.