Lights Out

We lost power today. It's been one of the worst storms of the winter. Roque and I tossed all night acquainting ourselves with the sounds our new house makes when there's heavy rain and wind. About half and hour after Roque left for work, the power went out. It isn't a good feeling, being this handicapped when you have a child. Suddenly all the monitors don't work, his heat is off, his room is dark and his food is cold. Thankfully, all his toys are battery-operated. Our nanny is amazingly unfazed. Calm and collected, she continues to work, cleaning the bathrooms in the dark, insisting that the flashlight only causes more glare. She is optimistic the city will fix the problem soon. Meanwhile, I am pacing the hallways, lost and bewildered. There's no internet access, I have an hour and 37 min left on my laptop, and my cell phone is halfway charged. Our new neighbors are all gathered at their windows, look to see who else is in the dark. Greyson is sleeping peacefully in his crib.
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12 hours and counting. I can't believe how long we've been in the dark and cold. When Greyson woke up from his second nap, it was 5pm and the house was almost pitch black. I bundled him up, picked Roque up at work, then headed to the mall for food, light and heat. We ran into our neighbors there and commiserated over dinner. Nothing like a power crisis to bring people together. 35 min left on my laptop.
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Power came back at 12am. We were woken up by my alarm clock radio and the hallway light that was apparently left on yesterday morning. We are so thankful. What I've learned from this episode is that we are not prepared enough to handle a situation like this with a child. Years of living in the Bay Area have anesthetized us to the fear of earthquakes. I have always mistakenly assumed that if we lost power, or water, someone would come help us sooner or later. I've also learned, from this experience, that it takes a lot to shake Greyson's world. As long as I, or Roque are present, his world is unchanged. He went through his day like business as usual. We read his bedtime stories by flashlight, changed him by candlelight, bundled him up in three layers, said goodnight in his freezing cold room, and he slept till morning completely unperturbed. It is the childhood luxury of oblivion at best.