SO, I had these great plans to have Joel, Ben and Ivy make dinner while I had the other children at soccer practice. I got a curveball when the mom who usually transports one of my children to the next site had altered the arrangement. Then, when I called home to give further instructions, my children informed me that our home was without power. Hmm. Well, it HAS happened a couple of times before, usually not for long. I called back three times, and finally figured out that the reason they would only answer cell phones was that our home phone is cordless! I am quick, you know. As I left the practice fields at 6:40, I was informed that there was STILL no power. No power, NO dinner. Mike was in class. I debated my options. Go to Walmart and pick up roasted chicken and sides(presuming there are any there at this hour), drive through, tell the kids to cook on the grill in the fast falling dusk, eat pb and j. What to do. I was completely befuddled. I really WANTED to have a solution that we could survive without power, but you know, I had not planned for it like we have for a hurricane or typhoon. I was so disappointed with myself when I finally chose to drive through. I just wanted to get home before dark and feed the kids before 7.
I lit the one pillar candle we had and the two tiny tealights to eat by. You may have noticed that I am not a big candle person. All those children and fire, I just don't think it is a good mix. It was kind of funny what the kids chose to do with themselves. Trinity was bored and wanted to watch TV. Could not grasp why I said NO. Jeanette read a book with a flashlight. Ivy and Anna organized all the flashlights and found out which batteries we needed. Ben and Joel were outside, but then I sent them to the store for candles and batteries(only 2 flashlights actually came on!) At 8 :15 I called a friend who camps to see if she had lanterns I could borrow so Ben could do his homework. Now you know that 5 minutes later the power came on!
I felt oddly upset with myself that I had not organized a cozy story time, or a fun game to play in the absence of electricity. It is not like I have never come up against something like this before. It has just been a long time. IS it just me, or are we SO dependent on modern life that we do not know what to do with ourselves when presented with down time like this.
Just some random thoughts in the dark.