DON'T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE!

AOL has a little piece on bedbugs and mites on the welcome screen, which got me to thinking about my own personal encounter with bedbugs. 

As a child I always used to sing 'Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite', but it never made any sence to me.  In fact I've sung it to every one of my children just before they went to bed.  My youngest daughter still insists that I sing it with her even now... but now... it has a different meaning to me.  Now I know what it feels like when the bedbugs bite!

It was about 4 years ago.  One of my husband's friends had just separated from his wife and was living in a camper on the side of our house.  When our anniversary came along this friend, who had bonded immediately with the children, volunteered to watch the kids over the weekend so my husband and I could spend the weekend out of town.  We had never had such an opportunity and jumped at the chance.  Dickidoo immediately made reservations for 2 at the hot springs. 

The hotel was far from being a 5 star... in fact it was far from being a 2 star hotel, but it had a hot spring and that was what we were there for.  It was fabulous to soak in the natural steaming water (in a somewhat un-natural pool constructed of concrete and imported rocks), while the ground around us was covered in snow.  And our wet hair would freeze in the cold air.  It was magical, and so relaxing.  We spent every chance we had in the soothing waters.

But at night.. and we spent 2 nights there... we would cuddle in the queen sized bed and talk about our lives together.  Little did we know that we were not alone.  I didn't think too much of the bites on my arms the first morning.  By the morning of our departure my arms, legs and torso were covered with bites... itch bites.  The bites were small, they never really swelled up like mosquito or flea bites, but they itched incessantly and would continue to do so for weeks.  Curious about the cause of the bites, I did a quick search and discovered that I probably should have performed the 3 minute search BEFORE booking the room for our anniversary get-away... the hotel had been reported several times for problems with bedbugs!

So anyhow... now, when I say 'don't let the bedbugs bite...', I mean it!  Because I know what it feels like and its no fun!  Plus, seeing what they look like and knowing that they had been crawling all over me, feasting on me like ticks while I was... uh... sleeping... yeah... while I was sleeping... ewwwww!  Thats the stuff nightmares are made of!
Bed bug [Picture] - World Book Online Reference Center (American English)