Don't Worry -- It's In a Safe Place

The Harvester Worker Ants arrived in the mail today! There hasn't been a more exciting package in the mail since.... well, since the cell phone arrived yesterday. But the excitement over the phone was short-lived when they learned that I wasn't ready to take it out of the box yet. THESE were real live critters. And little boy has been looking forward to this -- the completion of his birthday gift from so many months ago (November) -- in a big and bad way.

So the package was opened with much fanfare and I had three kids bouncing up and down as the oldest read the warning tape on the test-tube full of big, red ants. "Do not attempt to insert ants into colony without reading all directions first."

"Where are the directions, Mom? Where are the directions?"

I was shuffling through the box hoping the silly ant people had been bright enough to insert a 2nd set of directions with the ants. Apparently people who buy ant colonies are expected to be responsible enough to remember where they saved the original set.

"I, ummm... put them someplace safe. I'm sure I did."

There was a collective groan from the munchkins.

"Someplace safe? That means we'll never get the ants in their colony."

It's nice to know I am the one they can count on.

But seriously, I DID put the instructions in a safe place. I remembered picking them up off the floor when little boy was checking out the colony on his birthday. I kept shoving the papers back in the box and then finding them out on the floor again. Finally, I'd picked the darned things up and said something like, "I'll just put these someplace safe since the ants won't arrive until spring.

The problem is, things have changed since November. I have a new desk. I have all new cubbies and storage places and "safe" spots. The key is just remembering what was where and for which season.

I dug and dug. Starting with, "Where would I put ant farm instructions today if I needed to save them in a safe place?" I eliminated 3 or 4 of the most obvious spots before coming to the place I was apparently using last November.

Following a couple of hours of being the center of attention, the ants are now safe and sound in their "dark" place. I'm not usually a big fan of collecting wild things and asking them to live where they do not, but this ant farm thing is truly a learning experience and, I feel, worth it. I guess I've said it before,Ants are fascinating.

Now... has anybody seen my glasses? I'm sure I put them in a safe place...