Re-Mona & the Skunk

My daughter has been compared to the fictional character Ramona Quimby on many many occasions.    In fact, "Ramona (or Re-Mona as Natalie says) and Beezus" is one of our favorite movies. Last Wednesday was another one of those occasions where she pulled a Re-Mona.

Natalie on her first day of preschool

I had to work an early shift so Matt was in charge of getting everybody up and out the door.  We have had some kind of critter trying to get into our chicken coop for a few days, so he had a live trap set.  Natalie, ever the big helper, went out to check the trap for her dad.  He caught his perp in the trap and it was not a raccoon, but rather a skunk.  Natalie felt bad for that poor skunk in there all alone and decided to keep him company.  However, the skunk didn't feel like having company and told her to go away by "putting its butt out and squirting stinky water".

As this is going on, Matt is getting Joey dressed and himself ready to head out the door.  Now he also has a smelly five year old to deal with and just enough time to get to work.  So, he does what seems the most logical and changes her clothes and gets her in the car.  I would have thought this would be an awfully aromatic ride to town, but Matt said that he didn't notice that she smelled.  (He had gotten some of the spray on himself as he was changing her clothes and just thought it was him who smelled).

When I got my first break at work that day, I called daycare just to make sure that everybody got there in one piece (I'm a control freak like that) and the daycare lady was just coming in from an appointment.  She got the report from her sub that the kids told her Natalie got sprayed by a skunk.  So, she asks Natalie and sure enough, she got a direct hit.  The daycare lady asks me to please come and get her.  So, I leave work, pick the kids up (there's no way Joey was letting me leave him there, he might miss something), and take them home.  Thank the Lord that my de-skunkify solution that I mixed up worked!  I scrubbed Natalie down, soaked her clothes in it, then re-showered myself and headed back to work.

All I could think during this whole fiasco was that this was just another Re-Mona moment.  It made for a hectic day, but it really was pretty funny.

And that is the Absolutely True Tale of Re-Mona and the Skunk. :)

**In case you should find yourself with a skunk scented child (or pet), here's a really good potion to get rid of the smell.

2 c. 3% hydrogen peroxide

1/4 c. baking soda

1/4 c. dish soap

Mix all together.  Use enough to get a good coating of lather all over.  Let it sit for 5 minutes then rinse.  Repeat if necessary.  Thanks to my friend Maria for googling this for me as I was racing out the door!