Lights Out!

So I sit here in the dark, typing by the blue glow of the computer screen. I know that kids go through stages and that parents just need to be patient while the stage is in full swing. BUT, for Pete's sake, and the rest of us too, turn on the lights and leave them alone!

This is not just one child who leaves us in the shadows, but two of them. Benjamin and his twin brother six years removed love turning off the lights to leave us all flailing in the darkness to get our bearings. Usually they wait until your hands are full of heavy or awkward objects or squirming children. I think that there must be bonus points for getting people to yell immediately after the switch is flipped because they are in mortal peril.

Screaming is definitely a perk to the whole operation. I know that turning off the lights is to get a reaction and it sure works. It makes me crazy (not that I need any help)!! This behavior is used in all settings including school, church and public places of all kinds that dare display a light switch.

Too bad there isn't some kind of Babies R' Us mini-shocker that can be placed on the switch to deliver a little spark of discomfort discouraging such behavior. That is probably a good thing because with my luck my boys would figure a way around the shocker, and turn off the light while I am holding a wiggly one-year-old and in my haste to turn the light back on, I would shock myself. Yeah, that's how my life is sometimes. Okay, all of the time.

Turn on the light! As soon as I can see you, you are in big trouble, mister!