Schadenfreude

I have been placed in the unfortunate situation of being stuck at home with a sick child and no spousal backup. And Liam's grandparents hit the road for Texas today. What does one do in such a situation, when one can't go anywhere fun since Liam too sick to go, but still well enough to require entertainment? I was pondering this question yesterday, and as if in answer, a mysterious and very loud sound came from the street in front of our house.

I peeked out the window, and lo and behold, a semi had clipped off a large branch from our next door neighbors' tree. The branch had been hurled through some utility lines and then the lines and branch had become tangled around the truck. I am such an evil person, for after no ambulances came and it seemed no one was hurt, I realized that a morning of watching police cars, utility trucks, and the general chaos might provide Liam with some entertainment. And it did! We counted one "stuck truck," six police cars, two "scoopy trucks" (aka cherry pickers), four cable trucks, and a backhoe. After the action slowed down, one of our local policemen even gave Liam a guided tour of his cruiser, bless his heart. And we were one of the few houses that actually had electrical power yesterday. Everyone else was out for most of the day.

I wish to thank all the inconvenienced souls from the bottom of my heart. My son had the best time watching all of this stuff, so what was surely a really crappy day for all of you turned out to be a sanity saver for me. Even today was not a lost cause, since the township sent out chipper trucks to clean up all the branches. Those trucks were also "really cool!" Even the moving truck at Gran-Gran's house didn't merit the "very cool" rating.

To the rest of you, I apologize for the lack of structure in this post. Last night was veeerrry long. But Liam seems to be sleeping better tonight, so I'm choosing to be optimistic about sleep quality tonight. And thank you all for your comments and e-mails. Knowing I'm not the first mom to survive a croup night helped. A lot.