The Night the Lights Went Out

It has been a typically summer week in the mid-west filled with thunderstorms. Though some areas have experienced severe weather in the form of funnel clouds and flooding, for the most part, it's been smooth sailing around here. Until the power outage last night. Hypothetically, you wouldn't think that a power outage in the middle of the night would cause much disruption. In fact, the Husband and I were just about to go to bed anyway, so we weren't too upset by the sudden darkness. But, then it was followed up with an unmistakable wail. Coming from the general direction of the Tot's room. I ran to get him and quickly discovered the cause of his alarm - the combination of a black-out blind on his window and a lack of night light had plunged his room into complete darkness. (Even so, you would think that being asleep - with his eyes CLOSED - this might have escaped his notice, but no such luck.)  

I grabbed my phone and snuggled with him in the chair to listen to some music and rock him back to sleep, hoping the lights would come back quickly. Twenty minutes later, he was asleep and I was texting my husband to try to figure out the best way to ensure sleep for everyone. We agreed to place him in the Pack n Play in our room next to the bed and the Husband began to clean it out. However, when we got to our room (with blanket and bear in tow) we realized that our room was just as dark and "scary". So, while the Husband went to search for a flashlight to light up the room, the Tot and I laid in the bed and snuggled. The Husband came back and fashioned the flashlight in to a night light and then climbed in to bed as well. 

Initially, all was well. I have always wanted to be able to snuggle and nap with my Tot so I was very excited to try it. He was sucking his fingers and appeared to be relaxing so I began to drift. I was almost asleep when I felt sticky fingers poking at my cheeks...and then a giggle...followed by some chatter. He then rolled away from me and said "DA!" excitedly pushing on the Husband's face as well. At which point my tired husband said "You know, I could fashion the same type of night light in his room and then he could sleep in there". I weighed my desire for toddler snuggle time with my extreme fatigue before grabbing up the Tot and dashing walking to the baby's room.

Once there, I reasoned that I would rock him for a few songs until he went back to sleep and then just stick him in the crib (I also realized once I got there that it was actually the Husband's night for bedtime, so I was doubly annoyed to be the one sitting in the rocker). I rocked and rocked and rocked. He would start to drift off and then jerk himself awake, I would start to drift off and then be jerked awake by the wiggly body laying on mine. Finally, I gave up and put him in the crib. Shockingly he didn't protest, he just rolled over and went to sleep, leaving me to wonder just how much time I had wasted by rocking. I sleepily trudged back to our room and had just started to doze when the power came back on. And then went off. The Tot voiced his displeasure. This time, I was wiser. I rolled over and shook the Husband. "Your Turn!" I explained. As he got out of bed and began the drowsy walk to the nursery, I rolled over and went to sleep. 

Today, we are buying a night light with a battery back-up.