Don’t miss this weird story of how air-popped popcorn and bugs taught Heather about perseverance. When things go wrong, do you give up or keep going?
Sometimes leaving the house is like trying to free myself from the grasp of an octopus that’s pulling me in 8 directions with sticky tentacles. Tentacles like laundry needing to go into the dryer, cleaning up kid messes, and bugs coming out of my popcorn maker.
Wait, what?
This was one of those mornings where I needed the perseverance of a superhero to get out the door.
I was rushing around, trying to get the baby fed before leaving for Bible study. I had the brilliant idea to bring popcorn as a snack for the ladies. I wasn’t sure if anyone was bringing food, so I thought, “This will be so quick and easy. I’ll just throw some popcorn into the air-popper, and voila!”
Instead, it was many other things besides quick and easy.
After starting the popper, I returned to the baby who had flung her spoon full of millet and applesauce onto the floor, naturally. A few bites in to the resumed feeding, I thought that maybe I should check on the popcorn, so I wandered over to the counter.
Something looked weird though. Inside the white bowl that was for catching flying popcorn, I saw little black things. I peered closer. Those were not just little black “things.”
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They were little dead air-popped BUGS!
“What the H—???” was my first thought followed shortly by “ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!!!!!”
Pulling out the power cord, I inspected the bowl in disbelief. Little black bugs had been blown out in the air popper.
I was freaking out. Then I looked at the canister of popcorn kernels on the counter. I could see that the canister was crawling with LIVE BUGS. I thought the dead ones were bad enough. But these suckers were crawling around!
Ok, breathe, breathe…. avoid panicking.
Baby starts squawking due to being ignored. I run into pantry to look in the bag of extra kernels (that wouldn’t fit in the canister). “Maybe I can use these kernels and still come through with bug-free popcorn?” I thought. No dice. Bugs there too.
More freaking out. I did what any person who wanted a bug-free home would do: I devised a plan to get the bugs out NOW. This plan involved a plastic bag and taking all the kernels, half-popped corn and all bugs outside to the trash.
Unfortunately, in my freak-out zone, I forgot one thing:
Hot kernels and plastic bag do not go well together.
I dumped the kernels from the popper into the plastic bag, breathing a sigh of relief, until I heard a few kernels hit the floor. Then an avalanche of unpopped popcorn was cascading down the cupboards and spraying all over the floor. They melted right through the plastic bag!
The dog was eating frantically. I was FREAKING OUT. Now there were kernels and bugs EVERYWHERE.
Did I mention the baby was fussing? Did I mention my hair was still dripping wet, no mascara, and I was supposed to leave 5 minutes ago?
Well, I eventually hatched plans B, C, & D which were much better than plan A. They involved a vacuum (sort-of fail), a hand broom (better) and a paper bag (win).
I successfully made it to Bible study. With my child, a bag of chips, and even some candy to share. I had a lot of fun with the ladies and got to laugh about my morning. All in all, no one died (except bugs) and I’ll count it as a success. =)
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What Did I Learn About Perseverance From The Bug Incident?
- Freaking out creates high productivity. When things go wrong, I kick into high-gear, even while panicking. Who knew?
- Don’t give up. I kept trying. I kept failing. But eventually I got out the door. Perseverance brings success!
- Have a good laugh. If we can’t chuckle at ourselves and our mishaps, we’re bound to be slightly miserable all the time. What doesn’t kill us makes us… laugh? I’ll take it.
Your Turn:
Do you have a crazy bug story for me?
What helps you to persevere through your challenges?
Share in the comments!
