Image of a thunderstorm line (in dBZ) seen on a 0.7 degree elevation PPI (NOAA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Thunderstorms, I don’t like them. Not because of the thunder, lightning and possible windshield-damaging hail. But for the loss of cable. No TV, no internet, no home phone. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
If you have small children, and experienced a loss of electricity or cable, this story is for you.
Last night we experienced rather intense thunderstorms. Dramatic lightning, window-pounding hail, wind gusts I care not to discuss, torrential rain, and thunder. Oh the thunder.
It’s not enough that my wife is terrified of thunderstorms. We had to lose our electronic connection to the outside world too. How depressing not being able to watch the map on the Weather Channel app as the storm is happening. As Little A sat and pointed at the TV every two minutes, I wondered what was I going to do.
My one saving grace was Little A’s desire to play with every toy we own. Fortunately I was able to keep him occupied with various plastic rings, musical things and an empty plastic water bottle. The idea I would have to entertain my son without television never dawned on me.
This is not to say all we do is have him watch TV. Between 7:30 and 8:00 pm, is time to relax however. Mommy and daddy need a breather from the day. The educational cartoons on PBSkids, buy us that reprieve.
So while my son is staring at a blank TV, the thunder is shaking the foundation, mommy is sitting in the recliner with white knuckles and closed eyes, daddy is left to ponder how he ended up in this situation. I’m grateful this wasn’t taking place in the dark, but I learned how dependent child-rearing is on technology.
I’m sure there’s a lesson in this somewhere. For now, I’m just glad I’m back on wordpress.com blogging about it.
I hope you enjoyed this post. All comments and feedback are welcome and encouraged.
The Dad In Me 
My daughter is two and scared of thunder. We cuddle together in bed together during storms and her eyes get really wide looking at the lightening. She says, “Boom under!” every time it thunders.
Hopefully as she grows she’ll overcome the fear. Fortunately our little guy isn’t scared. Thanks for reading and sharing!