Today was a day without electricity. We had an electrician come out to add a new electrical box and fix our rigged up electrical work. My father-in-law was here all day helping him. What would we do without him?
From 9am – 8pm, we had no electricity, no heat, and no water. Even this evening, we weren’t sure if it would be fixed enough to turn the heat on. Bursting pipes is not something that we could allow to happen, so the electricity is back on, but not finished. The electrician has to return in the morning – for another day without electricity.
My husband said he’s so relieved because it will be safe now. He said I wouldn’t have wanted to know how unsafe it really was. Oh, thanks for telling me now! At any rate, it is just another part of our home remodeling process.
My husband works from home, so this was a day and evening off from work, not a good or practical thing but it is what it is. We actually got a lot done today, in the cold, dark house. (Actually, the house temp never fell below 60 degrees all day! Amazing!) We cleaned out the kids bedrooms, dressers, and closets. We have several boxes to donate and a large contractor size bag of garbage – mostly from my husband purging stuff. I did have to reclaim a couple of toys and the I’m a Big Brother book that was so helpful for Elijah when Elizabeth was born. Guys aren’t as sentimental as ladies, are they?
Tonight, we had Subway subs and chips for dinner since we couldn’t cook or even open the fridge. Our kids thought eating by candle light was so fun! My husband took them upstairs so they could see their rooms by candle light, they thought it was the best ever! They were running all around the house from room to room checking out the candles.
I could hardly breathe because of all the fragrance and had to blow a few of the candles out. Why am I so sensitive?!
Despite the cold and no electricity, we had a really fun night together. We played Connect 4, The Ladybug Game, and Memory. Then, our kids put on a shadow show making shadows on the wall. Then, my kids wanted to snuggle with me in Elijah’s bed. We got under the covers and made up stories, had tickle fights, and then…the lights came on. We cheered at first, then Elijah said, “We were having fun with the lights off, I wish they were still off“.
We were having fun with the lights off. We always play with our kids in the evening but there are normally distractions that we didn’t have tonight. Tonight, we didn’t do a quick check on our email, we didn’t have the TV on, we weren’t surfing the web, nobody was playing video games, I wasn’t doing dishes or laundry or other chores, we were all together – having fun.
Technology is a good thing that makes our lives easier in many ways, and even enjoyable. I’m not against electricity, TV, computers, etc. However, do you get the feeling that your family would be better off without all the distractions?
I don’t know. Everything in moderation is what I always say. However, after tonight, I hope that I can remember how much fun we were having. I want to be more conscious of the distractions that I allow to interfere with my family and kids that are avoidable. And, I think candlelit dinners every now and then could be fun!
