Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Paranoia

I have a hard time keeping the front end of my house warm. There are some cracks and the doors are not sealed well. So, when the heater is running the back bedrooms get hot and the front of the house is still chilly. And our heating bill has been outrageous. So, I plugged in a space heater that we have and put it in the living room in hopes that it would help keep it warmer in the front and let me not run the gas heater so much. I also don't want to overheat the kids in their rooms at night just to keep the Lroom warm. ANYway. I plugged in the heater. No problems, it is fairly new and seemed to be doing a great job of warming the room! Yay!

I had to go get DH from work. It is a 3 mile drive. Takes about 15 minutes to go and get him and drive back home. Both boys were asleep already and DD getting ready for bed. I routinely leave her in charge of the boys when I have to go get DH from work. They are asleep so no big deal. So, off I go. I get up to the restaurant and there are complications.... long, boring story to that. An hour later I am still waiting for DH to get off of work. I am, at this point, going crazy. Because I left the stupid heater running. And all I could think about was that it would have an electrical short and start a fire and the kids would be trapped or never wake up. I was freaking the fuck out. I tried to call and tell DD to unplug the heater but she didn't answer. The phone is in the front of the house.... she was in her room and couldn't hear it. So, I left DH at work and hauled ass back home practically hyperventilating. I was positive the house was on fire and my babies were choking on smoke.

Of course, I got home and everything is fine. All 3 kids sound asleep, the heater is fine, no problems at all.

Am I going crazy? I thought the paranoia would let up a little bit once the baby was a bit older. I feel like an idiot for worrying so much about the kids all the time.

Needless to say, when I leave in a minute to go and get the DH (again).... the heater will be unplugged.

8 comments:

Lesley said...

Yeah, I'd be freaking out too!

My youngest's bedroom is always really cold so I have a space heater in his room in the winter when it's uber-cold and I'm constantly up and down all night checking to make sure it's not too hot and nothing's on fire.

We've tried the more obvious thing like put another blanket on his bed but he always kicks his covers off.

Anonymous said...

OK. SO I GOT PHISHED ON MY MYSPACE PAGE FROM SOMEONE ELSE. JUST LETTING YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU GET A COMMENT FROM ME W/ A LINK TO SOME PAGE GET RID OF IT AS FAST AS YOU CAN. IT'S NOT ME SENDING YOU COMMENTS AND POSTS. JUST IGNORE THE POSTS FOR A WHILE. JUST GET RID OF THE COMMENT W/ A LINK ATTACHED.

Nana The Nana said...

I know what you mean, but I hate to tell you, just because the baby is older does not mean you worry less. They can do more so you worry more. Goes hand in hand. Wait until Jenna can drive if you want worries! Glad all was well when you got home.

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

Loved the comment you left on my blog about stuff you WANT vs. stuff you NEED.

SOunds like you have ton a kick ass job of cutting down your intake!

Kudos!

Hallie :)

Anonymous said...

I bought down blankets for everyone. Haven't turned on the space heaters at all since then.

This wouldn't work for you, though, since you are trying to heat a non-sleeping area. Really, though, I think the space heaters these days are pretty safe. We have two of those kind that look like old radiators - they smell funny, but they don't get too hot and seem really safe.

I shudder to think of the one I used when I was little - red glowing insides with a wire mesh cover. Any blanket touching it would have burst into flames. Heck, it was more like a disassembled toaster than a space heater...

Anonymous said...

I would have been freaking out too! Glad you went home and checked. I would have done the same thing! You can't mess with the worry wart gene!

Connie Carpenter Macko said...

you silly! when does the paranoia go away? NEVER! my one and only boy will be 21 next month. I imagine I will continue to be in a state of semi panic forever! did he get mugged? are people being mean to him? is he eating enough? Did he lock the house? are his room mates making good choices when they bring visitors to the house? did HE leave the space heater on! LOL...

Jessica said...

When we built our house we specifically told them to put the kids room on the same side as the central heat and air unit because we wanted our room to be coldest. Well they screwed it up and didn't. It was too late to change when we realized the mistake. I can crank up the heat and we just suffer which is what we often do because I am too scared to get a heater. I don't think it ever gets better. Your a mother, your going to freak out alot.