Mosquitoes Really Suck

When I was a little girl, I hated mosquitoes.

Not that anyone actually loves the little suckers. But I really, really hated them.

Because when I got bit by mosquitoes, the bites swelled up so bad that if I got them behind my knees, it was tough to bend them.

Seriously. It was just awful.

My Mom called the pediatrician the first time it happened. “My daughter had an allergic reaction to mosquito bites.”

“Everyone has an allergic reaction to mosquito bites,” he said. Then she took me in, and he saw.

“Oh…I get it now,” he replied.

Then he gave me some antihistamine, which made them feel better and put me to sleep.

My Mom was probably torn—she wasn’t happy about my bites, but she got a break from a little kid with a ton of energy.

Fast forward to my teen years. I remember getting all dolled up, as we called it, to go to our local church’s summer carnival with all my girlfriends. We were having fun until a boy we went to middle school with came by.

“You smell like bug spray! You smell like bug spray.”

Middle school boys suck. But not as much as mosquitoes.

Now, back to my story.

A number of years ago, I noticed that I wasn’t getting bitten by mosquitoes anymore. My husband and I would both be outside, and he would be getting eaten alive, while I got nary a bite.

This was awesome! 

Well, not for Brad. But for me.

Everything was fine until this year. 

While the large mosquitoes didn’t seem to be coming around, some smaller version of them began invading our outdoor space.

We were sitting on the front porch one night—because during quarantine, you do pretty much anything to get out of the house—and my husband began to get bit. He went inside to put on bug spray.

But then I began getting bit.

A lot…

Then I got angry. They weren’t supposed to be biting me. I no longer tasted good to them. All the mosquitoes in the world had avoided me for a couple of decades.

Until they didn’t.

The only good thing is that now the bites didn’t swell up to look like tiny extra heads all over my body.

The bad news is that they bite me a lot.

I don’t like putting repellant on later in the day because then I have to take another shower before bed. I don’t like the smell, and I don’t want it to get on the sheets.

So I began seeing how many of the little suckers I could smash before they got the chance to bite me.

Our once-relaxing “sitting on the porch” time changed. The sounds of nature became riddled with the sounds of me slapping my legs and arms.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

And for those of you keeping score, it’s now Wojo: 3, Mosquitoes: 4,376.

Thank goodness Fall is here.

Michele “Wojo” Wojciechowski, when she’s not waiting for all the mosquitoes to die off for the year, writes “Wojo’s World®” from Baltimore. She’s also the author of the award-winning book Next Time I Move, They’ll Carry Me Out in a Box. You can connect with Wojo on Facebook or on Twitter.