Opossum Incident

I don't love opossums.  Mostly because they carry EPM which is bad for our horses.  Ever since Brad killed one that was eating our chickens this past October Dean has been in love with the idea of them.  When he is at Grandma's she lets him watch YouTube videos of opossums and when she makes smoked tenderloin she tells him it is opossum and he eats it.  I don't know if he loves them or hates them but he is fascinated by them.  When we were coming back from International Night Brad saw a opossum in our yard. He had killed one the night before in his parents yard and was pretty proud of himself and his skills.


When we pulled into the driveway and saw one in the driveway by the house I offered to jump out and keep an eye on it while Brad got his big flash light and his gear.  He seemed to think I wasn't capable or it was too dangerous for me to follow the opossum and wouldn't stop to let me out.  By the time Brad went to the farm, got his light and other gear and came back neither he nor the dogs could find the opossum.  While he was searching the backyard things were out of control in the house.  The kids were excited already and the opossum took them over the edge.  They were chanting kill the opossum and marching around the house offering to look for different items to kill the opossum with.  At first Dean wasn't happy about this and said to Kasi "but I like opossums".  Kasi said "I don't think you actually know what they are."  He wasn't happy with her and said "Yes I do!"  I had to step in and explain that Dean watches videos of opossums taking baths, so strange.


After that talk Dean joined the chanting to kill the opossum and our house resembled the scene from Beauty and the Beast where everyone is chanting kill the beast and grabbing weapons.  Our kids had flashlights and hard objects and Vincent came out of no where with a giant butcher knife!  I about lost it when he was walking around in the dark with it.  He was upset because I took it away from him.  It was out of control and it was all for nothing because the opossum was never found.


Kasi, Brad and I attempted to get the kids calmed down and in bed.  It was easier said than done.  We managed to get Dean to bed and the other 3 kept talking.  Mostly because Joel had ideas that he felt he had to complete.  During bedtime Joel was convinced he had to dress like Robinhood.   He wanted to cut his pajama pants with scissors.  I managed to stop him but his ideas kept coming like a flood and he could not sleep.  I finally told him to come to the living room by Brad, Kasi and I so the other 2 could sleep.  They fell asleep and then finally around 11 pm Brad laid on the couch and Joel fell asleep on top of him.   Joel goes thru times when he isn't as regulated as he normally is and the last few weeks has been one of those times.  When he gets that way it appears as though sleep is not necessary for him at all.  Those times are exhausting for me.