My preschooler was sent home from school because she and a few more of her schoolmates may have lice! I was a little mortified by the idea that my princess had been infested with this parasite, and I attacked the problem as any neurotic mother would with a bevy of shampoos, oils, lotions and combs. I washed every sheet, pillow, rug, and stuffed toy with veracity. I even scrubbed the dog! I explained to my puzzled children and pets that we had to get rid of the bugs! My devastation continued the next day, until I overheard my husband ask my toddler if she was going to school, to which she pleasantly replied, "No, Daddy, there are ladybugs in my hair!" and with that she raced off to watch Dora.

Perception

It is amazing how much one can learn from the young; it is all about perception. I was losing sleep over parasitic creatures laying eggs in my daughter's hair; to my daughter they were pretty little ladybugs dancing through her curls. Mind you, however, I still plan to be their version of the terminator!

We are inclined to often see the negative side of things; it is far easier to find fault than it is to find positives. Negativity if left unchecked can become crippling. Getting out of bed becomes an exercise in what can go wrong. So as an exercise, look for what is right.

I met the ultimate challenge this last week; a rat ran into my living room. I have a self-proclaimed rat phobia and have absolutely nothing positive to say about their prevalence in Kingston, and even less positive to say about their presence in my living room.

So there we were faced with a blatant intrusion, the rat had positioned itself under the sofa and was glaring out at who dared to look; clearly this was not me, but my stepson. So we brought in the artillery - my three dogs. I made no pretence and stood firmly on the counter. My stepson bravely thrust the Jack Russell in the direction of the rat, and what ensued was utter bedlam. My stepson rather skilfully climbed a wall and my six-year-old joined the chase with his tennis racket in hand.

Howling proudly

The female dogs soon were victorious, and took the rat rather considerately outside. When the dust settled we noticed that the male dog was still racing frantically around the room. You could almost hear him, "Let me at him, I got this one!' He was not fazed when we called to him bringing to his attention the fact that the object of his fuss was long gone, and he spent the night howling proudly celebrating his kill. One could make negative comments on the usefulness of the male species, but instead this rat brought something very precious into my household, laughter!

Rats and lice would normally be sources of huge negativity for me, but a dog and a small child have managed to show me the lighter side of things. There is no doubt that we are living in stressful times, we are challenged by crime, inflation and an economy that is not helping either circumstance. But while we tackle these ills we still need to be open to the positives and embrace them.