Afraid of the Dark

My heart races as I lay in the pitch-black room that the five of us are sleeping in during a summer getaway.

No, it isn't mysterious thumps from an imagined boogieman that have awakened and paralyzed me with fear, it's the blackness itself. I'm convinced that in the darkness of this strange room my 7-year-old, Henry, will forget he is sleeping on a top bunk and fling himself off.

I run through my limited options — lift him off onto the floor or turn on a light — both of which will probably result in waking one and then all three children (otherwise known as the "Domino Wake-up Effect").

Finally, cursing the concept of bunk beds and weekends away, I make my way to his bed, successfully weaving past the baby's pak 'n' play but slamming my shin into the bottom bunk where Julia, 10, is sleeping. Though Henry's sound asleep, I whisper into his ear, "Remember, you're sleeping in a top bunk tonight," hoping my feeble reminder will somehow slip into his subconscious and keep him safe.

With dawn's light, I'm relieved to discover that we've all survived. My relief quickly gives way to sleep-deprived grumpiness, and I wearily vow to anyone who will listen that I'm going to invest in a couple of items to make our weekends away more restful.

After we return home, I hop online and find an LED Power Failure Night Light, an inexpensive battery-powered nightlight (available at Amazon.com) that provides just enough light for us to see across the room, and has a rechargeable battery back-up in case we lack access to a plug-in outlet when traveling. Dave and I score matching reading lights — the LightWedge 3 LED Black Book Light (also on Amazon) — that clip to a page to illuminate a book or magazine but allow sleepy children to snooze while we read in the same room. I pack these away in our overnight bag for the next getaway.

And that's how I conquered my fear of the dark.