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Bitten in the Butt:  PracticalDad and the Fleas

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

          - Old Saying

Managing the household - with multiple children and activities - is frequently a case of establishing a routine that is both wide-reaching and monitored.  "Monitored" means that you follow up to assure that what has to happen actually happens.  Expect things to go wrong, but a decent calendar and schedule will minimize the BOOMS.  Unfortunately, that means that you have to actually go back to the calendar and be sure to carry things forward.

This includes treating the animals for fleas.  Prior to our move to another house, we gave our dog/cat pets monthly flea treatments and routinely carried the date forward to the following month so that it was handled and we kept the fleas out of the house.  But after the move, that particular item never made it back to the calendar and subsequently dropped out of the routine.  And now we find that each of the three cats has at least one flea.  We've found one on each but live by the assumption that there's plenty more where that came from.

So my life is now more complicated over the next several days.  What has to happen?

• Obtain the medication necessary to treat each animal and re-establish that routine.
• Vacuuming the entire house with multiple dumpings of the canister to assure that the suction stays strong and that they don't congregate in the bag after being swept in.
• Changing multiple bedlinens so that they don't infest the kids' beds and bite them.
• Continuing this vacuuming daily so that the fleas don't linger.
• Considering a "flea bomb" powder for the house, which means that animals must be removed from the house for the day, as well as all other lifeforms.

 My failure to get that item back on the routine has now doomed me to additional drudgery that could've easily been avoided.  And the lesson is to make certain that the family calendar is complete and current.

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