Dust Mite Drama

This morning Brenna knocked on my bathroom door. "Mommy?....Mommy?"
"Mommy, I need to read you something. It's really sad. We're going to have to sit down."

I asked her what it was, but she insisted on waiting. When I opened the door, I saw right away that she was holding her Kids Almanac. With a worried expression, she began reading. "They're in your pillow! Take dust mites, for instance. You can't see them, but they cozy up in bed with you every night."

She shivered and looked up at me with sad eyes. I wasn't sure what to say yet, so she kept reading.

"Scientists estimate that a typical mattress could have {100 comma zero, zero, zero} to 10 million mites inside it! What's more, almost 10 percent of the weight of your pillow could be mites - dead or alive - and their droppings."

Now I was horrified too. She went on to explain that they can cause sneezing and itching, and that every one of her sneezes and itches in all of her life has been caused by mites. She's sure of it.

I managed to change the subject and distract her momentarily with the laundry and dressing Daniel, but it didn't last. When I brought her breakfast into the dining room she was standing beside her chair scratching herself all over - head, stomach, legs, arms....

I could see this wasn't going away easily, so I told her we would wash her pillow today. That didn't solve the "itchiness" though, so I made an extra effort not to roll my eyes and told her that God made our bodies in such a way that we can live with dust mites and be okay. For some reason she accepted that lame explanation and sat down to eat.

I, though, am still pretty disgusted with the thought of anything leaving it's droppings on my pillow or mattress. ugh! What a way to start the morning!