Twas A Dark And Stormy (or do I mean sticky?) Night...

Power outages, peanut butter, and a toddler make a dangerous combination.

Returning home from the grocery Friday during a thunderstorm, Jonathan and I passed numerous downed branches, and at one point saw our volunteer firefighters working to clear a side road. So we were not surprised to find our power out when we arrived home. Electrical outages are just a fact of life here in the country.

No problem. Kristen had just finished broiling some chicken and veggies, so we were in good shape there. On the porch to catch the remaining daylight, after dinner Tim read The Hobbit to the kids for about an hour, while they kept warm in their sleeping bags.

Devotions time – and still all was well. Then instead of sending everyone to bed, Tim allowed Kristen to finish reading aloud a children’s version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which she had begun earlier. The younger ones squashed around her on the loveseat to laugh at the antics of Puck and crew while Peter held a lantern aloft so all could see the pictures.

“OK. Now – time for bed!” I went to gather Ben, who had been playing on the floor and found something seriously amiss. What was this gooey stuff covering his hands, the front of his sleepers, and his hair? Oh, no! Someone played a flashlight over the floor and found the cause of the mess. There was a jar of opened peanut butter which Ben had apparently been enjoying by the fistfuls during Kristen’s reading.

Have you ever tried to clean a toddler, covered with peanut butter, in the dark? The carpet wasn’t in great shape either. Finally Ben was moderately clean and I rocked him to sleep while Tim had an adventure of his own finding a stray rooster. But I don’t have time for more stories. A mountain of backed up laundry awaits now that our power returned this afternoon.

Comments

mrsd said…
I don't know which is worse--the peanut butter or the mountain of laundry. :)
Anonymous said…
The peanut butter. The laundry can be easily dealt with, although it isn't pleasnt. The peanut butter had to be scrapped out of the floor in the dark with a flashlight in one's mouth, using chemicals to cut the grease down. You at least have light for laundry... :-D

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