The Ants Go Marching...

...but there ain't no 'hurrah' about it.

I looked at my bedroom floor last week Wednesday, and I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. It was an ant. So I killed it.

Then I looked again, and realized that the ant I just killed had some friends. About 15, actually. So I went around my room, slapping my carpet to kill the ants (and I probably looked like a crazy person who sees things that nobody else can because those things aren't really there). But I assure you, they were.

So I went upstairs and promptly told my mom: I have ants!!! Where did they come from? Why are they in my room??

Then I went on the internet to look for a homemade solution to my ant problem (because it was evening, so we couldn't go out and buy ant traps, and also, I wanted them gone NOW). I found a recommendation for vinegar mixed with water, apple cider vinegar to be exact. Just fill a spray bottle with water, add a bit of vinegar, and spray the baseboards and wherever you see ants.

Well, it actually seemed to work! I went back downstairs, saw twice as many ants as I had before, and started spraying. It smelled a little bit, but I was feeling very positive about my efforts until I lifted something off of my floor.

You may remember my post about my birthday, and how my mom bought me some frying pans. They have been sitting on my floor (but out of the way) this whole time, still in their original packaging, until I move out.

So as I was lifting things to spray my carpet, I picked up my pans, and behold, the creepy-crawliest sight I have ever encountered in my own bedroom: a hundred ants, swarming about, right where my pans had been sitting. Whey they picked that spot, I have NO idea.

It was gross, I screamed, and then I attacked with a vengeance using my potent vinegar mixture. Well, they disappeared in an awful hurry. But then so did I, because the scent was starting to be too much. I let my room air out, and the next day my mom bought me some ant traps.

The combination of my homemade treatment plus ant traps seems to be working, but I still see a few ants here and there everyday. I guess I have to wait longer than a week before all the ants are gone. So if any of you ever have trouble with ants, remember to give them a hearty does of vinegar water.

I also read that a mixture of baking soda and powdered sugar works. Or cinnamon. Just sprinkle those around the edges of rooms. And if all your sprinkling and spraying doesn't work, well, I suppose you could mix all those things in a large bowl and bake something instead!