When it's very windy, our back door vibrates like mad and gets very loud. It's annoying as hell during the day, but from the kids perspective, is very scary at night. We've tried fixing the door, but the only thing that muffles it is to open the door, shove a towel into the gap, then close and lock the door. It's not the best fix, but it's the only fix.
Last night at 3am everyone woke up to the sound of the door vibrating in full force.VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV Within 1 second, Xavier was out of bed and bawling at the top of our hallways screaming for me. I struggled out of the covers, opened our door and grumbled "It's only the door vibrating. Nothing to be scared of. We'll fix it. Go back to bed please." Of course that didnt cut it for him. And having been a kid before I get it. But being a parent who is beyond tired and realizing I have to deal with a panicking 7 yr old in the middle of the night, and knowing if he continues sobbing loudly out in the hallway next to his baby brothers door the baby will then wake up bawling, all I wanted him to do was grow up and realize there was nothing to fear. That sounds bad doesnt it? Ahh well I know I'm not going to win the parent of the year award.
Of course, hearing the screams of his older brother, Ashe wakes up and trudges over to the hallways railing and yells down "MOMMY I WANT CHOMO MILK!".... of course you do buddy. He's not scared at all, could care less about the loud VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV coming from our back door.
I trudge to the kitchen to make chocolate milk as Im trying to tell Xavier there is nothing to worry about. But no matter what I say he is not calming down and if anything starts to get more panicky. Now he's turned the vibrating door into Tornados and we're all going to die and we would never know it because we'll be sleeping and...
"Dude! You're fine! No tornados."
"How do you know???" he wails.
"Fine. I'll go check online and if there are no tornado watches or warnings you are to go straight to bed without argument. Deal?"
"Sniff...ok."
Handing over the chocolate milk to Ashe, Xavier and I trudge up the stairs, him walking so close behind me he keeps tripping over my heel. I'm so damn tired.
We get to the computer and I sit there waiting for the net to boot up, trying so hard to keep my head from crashing into the keyboard. Finally I see my email open up and I quickly type in the weather link. And there, blinking on my screen is 4 different warnings:
flash flood watch
flash flood warning
wind advisory
Tornado watch.
Damn damn damn damn damn!
Now, I've learned very quickly that there is a big difference between a watch and a warning. Watches are really nothing to worry about. But you tell that to a 7 yr old who is adamant we're all going to blow away to Oz the moment a gentle breeze tickles your face. And it's not like I can cover up the blinking alert on the screen. The boy can read well. And it's flashing so it catches his eye like candy.
/sigh
Instead of being able to herd the boys back into bed with a "See, I told you so" comment, I have to now investigate further. I open the radar screen, zoom in and out, and get a handle of our location in conjunction to the storm. We're at the tail end. And of course, as I say this to Zavi, the wind all of a sudden dies down, and it gets really quiet. No more vibrations. THANK YOU!!!! (And thank you J so very very much for having the forethought to stuff a towel into the door while I dealt with the boys. I owe you!)
Suffice to stay our house still stands, there were no tornados, and I've yet to run into someone from the lollipop guild. I think we're still in NC and not Oz. I was finally able to get the boys back to bed and calm, having gone over the differences between a watch and warning and that I would stay up all night long and listen just in case (I kept my fingers crossed behind my back as I said this and passed out as soon as I could but it made Xavier feel better). But I am drinking a ton of coffee this morning and I am even more excited now to move in a few months, preferably to a place whose back door does not vibrate every time the wind blows. And I also learned to keep watches out of my deals for going back to sleep.
Yawn
3 comments:
HA ha ha. Man, you give your kid chomo milk at 3 a.m.? You ARE parent of the year. I'd be like, "No way dude, go back to bed." And isn't better before they can read and need to rely on you for all their info?
Good times.
PS-Rhaven, are you on facebook? I want to add you as a friend. If so, join the GoodTimesDad group, so I can add you.
Dude, I will do *anything* if it means a shorter route to getting my kids back to bed on nights like this. Also, seeing as how he was rudely awakened by his older brothers wails I thought it was the least I could to to compensate Ashe.
I'll look you up on FB. I go by my real name but the picture is the same!
I feel your pain, our front screen door is much the same. im about ready to just open it up and let the wind take it off to kansas or where ever it feels the need to go.
Post a Comment