*Our children do not know about this and if you know us in real life, we'd like to keep it that way. I'll explain later in the post.
I was excited the other night to be able to stay up as late as I wanted. Although I had been awake since 5:30 a.m., I knew it would be a late night. I have not been able to stay up and have "me" time for awhile so I was looking forward to checking on my school responsibilities and making out my art list and things. I also checked back in on Facebook, don't want to miss an update of a color, or perhaps hearing about who's tired. Good grief, you would think people would learn that they need to go to bed at an earlier time or perhaps find another job that doesn't require you to be fully alert or get up before noon. LoL.
I enjoyed staying up and getting things done on the computer and just having quiet time. However, it was a little after 1 in the morning, it was time for bed. I double checked all the doors and made sure they were locked. Shut off all the lights and headed upstairs to bed. I latched the baby gate at the top of the stairs, checked on H2 and H3 (both sound asleep) and finally checked on H4 (who is sound asleep in his crib in our room). All of this was routine stuff for me.
I had snuggled in bed I was trying to erase the sites I had seen on episodes of "Hoarders". My mind was racing with thoughts of "I really need to clean the garage! Our closet could use cleaned out too." It was disturbing. But these are serious problems for people. Anyway, I snuggled in and started drifting off. It seemed as if I had just shut my eyes when I heard a noise. It sounded exactly like someone closing our baby gate at the top of the stairs! My eyes POPPED open. Our bed faces the top of the stairs so I would have been able to see whoever or whatever it was that was coming up them. And we all know how "easy" baby gates are to open, haha (NOT). I was finally able to sit up and turn on the light. I grabbed my robe and cell phone, glanced over at H4, and headed out of the room. As I walked along the ledge my heart was racing. I could see into the boys' room and see that they were still sound asleep and safe. I stood there for a minute, scared, starting to panic, and mentally smacked myself out of it. I should probably mention that my 2 favorite shows are CSI and Criminal Minds, which is not really helping at this point. I like to think that I'm somewhat of a strong (mentally) person. I definitely don't get scared easily. But this is something no one really likes to be dealing with. I slowly walked over and flipped on the light that was directly across from the stairs, then quickly peaked over the baby gate to see if anyone was there. . . . WHEW!!!! No one. I checked on the boys again before checking in every bedroom and closet upstairs, laundry room was clear, kid's bathroom was clear. All were clear. I took a deep breath and unlatched the gate. I stood there for a minute and thought about what could happen and then quickly thought about running grabbing my sword. Other thoughts went through my mind of IF someone were downstairs they could easily turn it on my or worse, they could turn it on my children. The sword stayed safe in it's hiding place and I grabbed the closest thing and just about the next best thing to a real sword (adding a bit of sarcasm). . . a Light Saber. Yes, a light saber.
All I could think of was a conversation between Woody and Buzz Lightyear (we watch A LOT of Toy Story).
Buzz: "I set my laser from stun to kill."
Woody: "Oh, great great, yea and if anyone attacks us we can blink them to death."
So my thought to myself was "what are you going to blink them to death?" (sad I know, but it was all I had at that time of the night/morning)
This was a way of calming my mind too. Not that I was too worried because the upstairs was clear and safe. IF there was anyone downstairs they can have whatever they want, and I was giving them PLENTY of time to get out with it. LoL.
I headed down the stairs with ease, reaching around the corner to turn on the light. I glanced around the rooms (thank goodness it's a great room) as I stepped down the last step. I opened the coat closet, nothing. I checked the doors as I walked by them. As soon as I had seen that they were locked my heart beat started slowing down. I finished checking the closets downstairs and took a deep breath. The house was empty. WHEW!!!! I turned off every light that I had turned on (which was EVERY light downstairs) as I walked out of the rooms and headed back upstairs. I checked on the boys one more time (yes I'm a bit paranoid) before turning on a light that shines on the stairs then heading back to bed. I sat there for a minute before getting settled and snuggled back under the covers. I set the sleep timer on the TV and stared at the stairs for awhile. Popped my eyes open to check the stairs after realizing I had fallen asleep and eventually drifted off to sleep.
I came to the conclusion that as I was drifting off to sleep, H4 moved and kicked the side of his bed making a noise. And because I was just falling asleep it sounded a lot louder that it really was. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. LoL.
I had to laugh though as I checked my emails today. Received a message from ADT Home Protection. (insert sound from The Twilight Zone--doodoodoodoo)
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H1 went to a friend's house for New Year's Eve which was a lot of fun for her. However, they watched Paranormal Activity (without our permission) in turn completely freaking her out. So, since then she has not slept in her room. Because of her decision, we all get to pay. Grrr.
On a lighter note, I have enjoyed placing H4 on H1's mattress in our room at nap time. We're testing him to see if he's ready for a toddler bed. He is. He comes to the gate at the top of the stairs and calls for me. As I'm walking up the stairs he heads back to the room and climbs up on our bed so we can snuggle for a few minutes. Ahh, (sigh) I love that.
