Today Avery came flying down the hall wailing. She sounded terrified not hurt. It was the kind of cry you reacted to pronto.

She told me, "There's a spider! There's a spider in my room."

Avery's not a big fan of bugs, but I knew this spider was going to have to be huge to have caused this kind of reaction.

I went down to her room and searched for it. She'd told me it was by her bedside table.

I didn't see it at first, but then I SAW it. Woah. It. Was. Huge.

I think I shreiked, though I don't think of myself as afraid of spiders.

I captured it under a cup. There was excitement in the room as we gathered around. I was worried that it was big enough to knock the plastic cup over.

I transferred it to a container with a lid so the kids could observe it and so my husband could see what was co-habitating with us. WAS living with us. WAS. (yes, that part should be spoken as Pee Wee Herman might speak it).

I deposited him in the backyard, but fear he will be back.

This is his actual size, the size he is on your computer.

Any suggestions about how to keep him out?