Not-so-good Vibrations

I am a bad mother. I am a bad mother because today is my daughter's first day back at school and I was supposed to wake her at 7. Instead, she woke me at 8. Yes, I'd set the alarm. And, yes, it went off at 6:30. I turned it off and told myself to get up in 10 minutes.

But I have a reason for my laziness. Ultimately, I blame my daughter. At 2:45 this morning I awoke to a vibrating noise (not THAT kind of vibrating). I lay in bed trying to figure out what it was. Did we have a poltergeist somewhere in the house? Was a cat stuck somewhere? No, the noise was too regular and consistent. Every 2 or 3 minutes a percussion of 6 beats. Was it the pipes? I did have the heating on briefly in the evening. But the heating was no longer on. Was something left on -- PlayStation? TV? Something in the bathroom?

After half an hour, I decided I had to investigate. I turned the light on, ventured out into the hallway, turned another light on, stopped to listen. All I could hear was the churning of my stomach, not happy at being awakened prematurely. I went downstairs. The vibration grew fainter. I went upstairs, past my son's room, his bathroom, the guest room, the playroom. All looked serene and quiet. What the hell. I decided to go back to bed. The vibration started again. I decided to ignore it. I'll get the kids to figure it out tomorrow, I told myself.

I turned out the lights. Bloody hell, that vibration is happening again. It's not my dodgy hearing, is it? I turned over to my "good" ear. No difference. Where would it be that I could hear it clearly in my bedroom, but not anywhere else? In my bedroom, of course. But it wasn't. What had I heard before the vibration? Some sort of music. And what would be the source of the music? Not a poltergeist, but maybe a phone. And what room is directly above mine? The playroom.

I turned on the light, got out of bed, went up to the playroom and investigated the PlayStation (it still being my main suspect). Then I heard a noise, but not like the vibration. I saw a phone. My daughter's mobile. When I'd kissed her goodnight some hours earlier, she'd said, "I must find my phone." Someone had texted her at some point in the night. Since I'd found it for her, I decided to leave it by her bed. That way she could be the one disturbed by the vibrations.

And back to bed I went. But I didn't feel sleepy. So I read. I did sudoku. At 5:15, I decided I'd better try to get some sleep. I thought, as I always do in the middle of the night, about relationships gone sour, books I've had that I must read, recipes, what I'll have for breakfast (my stomach being permanently awake by that time), how my son reminds me of Calvin in Calvin and Hobbes, and I must find that book I've had forever, but, wait, I think I gave it away ages ago.

So, not a good night. See, even when they get older, kids still keep you awake at night. Just in different ways.

P.S. Don't forget to vote in my poll on whether we should get a puppy.