Lessons Learned Overnight

1. Life is a delicate balance. For every yin, there must be a yang. The yin of a fantabulous day must have a yang of a night filled with screaming and little sleep. That’s what I get for saying how great the day was.

2. Carbon monoxide detectors and menthol vaporizers don’t mix. Did you know that a Vick’s vaporizer with menthol in it could set off a carbon monoxide detector? Yeah, me neither, but it’s true. Of course, the detector was in Cordelia’s room, and we didn’t realize it’s loud enough to wake anyone in a three mile radius.

3. If you have an important thing to do, the night before is bound to be the night that something happens to wake the child. Aaron was trying to catch a little sleep before returning to Cincinnati for more classes, and I had a Very Important final exam this morning. We had used the vaporizer in Cordy’s room many other nights, but the detector waited patiently until last night to express its displeasure with menthol.

4. Rocking to sleep works better for mommy than child. Three attempts at rocking Cordelia to sleep, and three successes at putting mommy to sleep instead.

5. Being right isn’t always good. Earlier in the week, my mom said she thought Cordy’s runny nose and cough was teething. I disagreed and said I was sure it was a cold. Now, I can’t be sure, but unless I’ve suddenly started teething in the past 24 hours, I can say I was right. But I wish I wasn’t.

6. Blog posts really can come to you in the middle of the night. It’s amazing how blog fodder can just fall into your lap, or screech in your ear. I scribbled down these notes during #7.

7. The child will fall asleep long before the adult can. After the hour of battles to get Cordy back to sleep (and my drifting off in the rocking chair), she finally gave in. I crawled into bed, exhausted. But my mind was wide awake. What if it wasn’t the vaporizer? Will I wake up and find my child dead from carbon monoxide poisoning?

So I then had to get up and set up my own test, putting the detector in the bathroom and closing the door, so if the furnace was malfunctioning, it would detect it in the small enclosed space. It never went off, and Cordy woke up fine this morning. I, on the other hand, woke up tired.