Fine. I Might Have a Quirk or 7: #7

My favorite school board member, Sue, from As Cape Cod Turns has tagged me.  I've never been very good at tag because running is not my thing.  But, after some serious introspection I am going to play.  It also helped that she said I was smart.

So this week, you will learn about 7 hitherto unrevealed facets of me (that sounded smart, right?)

#7: I GET GENUINELY FRIGHTENED
DURING THUNDER STORMS.

I am not certain of the origin of this reaction to thunder and lightening, but it probably has its genesis (please note the use of that smart word, too) some time around my 9th year.  I had a horrible, miserable, ugly, life-changing school year courtesy of some factors such as a cross-country move for our family and being assigned to the most mean-spirited teacher ever. 

Prior to that year I had always shared a bedroom with one of my sisters.  But in that new house, I had my own room.  And in that room I spent many nights wrestling with nightmares and sleepwalking.  I was certain that someone would break in (but the murderer would only enter the house through my bedroom window.)  During any stormy night, I would watch the windows during the flashes of lightening to see if the murderer was outside my room yet.

Two years later, we moved again and my new best friend taught me a lot about life that I had never known.  Included in those unsolicited lessons were several horror stories - always with the setting of a raging thunderstorm.

Fast-forward a whole lot of years and one particular thunderstorm found me with my fussy newborn who had just settled into sleep while in my arms.  I knew that if I put him down, the crying and crying and crying would resume and I was soooooo tired.  My two-year old son was in the room with us and wanted to see the storm.  He reached from the bed to the window and missed the landing.  I heard a thump and then the 2 year old began to cry.  In one of my finest mothering moments ever, I opted to continue holding the sleeping baby while telling my toddler he was okay.  When the lightening flashed next, I saw my toddler 's face covered in blood which was freely flowing from the newly carved gash in his head which he received when his face hit the window sill during his fall.

So there you have my first quirk.  I think my "discomfort" with thunderstorms is perfectly normal, thank-you!