the mouse fiasco

We have a full bath in our basement and the girls like to take their showers down there. So that is what they were doing last night and I went to check on them. I still needed to take a shower and wanted to make sure that there was going to be enough hot water for me to do that. They were thankfully out of the shower and I got distracted by housework while I was down there. I hadn't put the recently purchased bundle of paper towels away yet and so I decided to do that. I went into the utility room which is next door to the bathroom, deposited the paper towels and shut the door again. Sara then said "Mom, Gus the mouse is in the utility room" "Um, WHAT? A mouse???" was my response. I was desperately trying to play the calm mom in all of this--I don't want to create a fear of mice in my children. Sara, in a very matter of fact way: "Yeah, you know, furry with a tail--Gus" Okay, so there is a mouse in my utility room and my daughter has named it?!! I was starting to freak out a little--and on the inside I was in complete panic mode. I tell people that I'm not scared of mice and I'm not as long as they are outside (or in a cage) and they don't surprise me. This one was not outside and there are lots of places for it to hide and jump out and surprise me in our utility room. The only thing that didn't make sense was that my girls were completely calm. My girls like mice in a cage, but other than that--not so much. So why were they calm?? They were just standing there staring at me as if I was crazy. They really could not understand my reaction. So I finally got up the nerve to open up the door--and there on the floor sure enough was Gus the mouse--actually it was Gus Gus the mouse from Cinderella--he was plastic and about 1 inch long. "Ohhhhhh, you mean Gus Gus!" The look on her face said it all--you could see it written all over both of their faces "So she really does lose her mind after 7pm"