HUMMMMM…..

My son, who is 3 months old, had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep when he was a newborn; my husband and I, first time parents, had a hard time figuring out how to help him. We would spend sleepless nights walking back and forth trying to console him, convinced that we would be evicted from our apartment for excessive noise and that the neighbors would certainly call child services on us.

And then we stumbled across the miracle solution: the kitchen fan. Its humming noise seemed to be exactly what Ben needed to fall asleep and stay asleep. We were so relieved to have found this cure to our problems that we used the fan with reckless abandon and its whirring was sweet music to our ears.

Now, it is driving me crazy. The fan has to be on for Ben to fall asleep. The fan has to be on for Ben to stay asleep. That is a lot of on time for the fan. And it is driving me crazy. Its always on and it seems to have permeated my entire life. When I am on the phone, people ask me if I am in a wind tunnel.

Go to another room, you say. I wish I could, but our apartment is not very big and the kitchen is where I work and, obviously, where we cook and eat. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

So today, 30 seconds ago, I took a big step. I turned off the fan. Ben is in his swinging chair sleeping we’ll see if he can stay asleep without the humming. I for one am breathing easier and can finally hear myself think. It is true what they say: silence is golden.

UPDATE: It’s 30 minutes later and the fan is back on. Silence is golden, but humming is better than crying.