The Heat is On

If you have ever visited us during the winter, you may be aware that our house lacks the modern convenience of exterior insulation. Over the years we’ve tried different strategies to keep the house warm without breaking the bank, always ending in defeat. It turns out that in the end, after all the cracks are sealed, the only way to reduce your heating cost is to reduce your heat.

After a while it became a point of pride that our thermostat clocked in at 50 degrees during the night, rising to a balmy 60 during the day. We took the opportunity to get good use out of our quilts and afghans and promote our various colleges/sporting teams by wearing their sweatshirts. One of us, and we won’t name names, even began to wear a hooded sweatshirt to bed. We let Newman’s coat grow nice and long.

Then along came Penny. As if her daycare wasn’t costing enough, it seems that her comfort level requires slightly more heat than our norm. With rising gas prices, even a few degrees increase put the squeeze on the monthly budget. We gave in, setting the night temperature to 55 and the daytime to a bourgeois 65.

In order to prevent icicles from forming on Penny’s chin, we put a space heater in her room (which made nighttime feedings actually enjoyable—it gave the volunteer a chance to go into Penny’s sauna-like room and warm up before heading back to our sleeping chamber tundra). Since her rhythmic crib thumping precluded the use of blankets, we gingerly wrapped her in layer-upon-layer of onesies, pajamas and sleep sacks, topped off with an old-fashioned sleeping cap. Fortunately, the weather this winter has been moderate and next year we can introduce the game “How Many Blankets Can You Climb Under?!”

How would you describe the temperature in our house?
	Just right – A Spartan lifestyle will make Penny appreciate her environment that much more
	Perfect for storing sushi
	There was more snow inside than out this year
	The National Zoo should annex your living room as part of their new polar bear habitat
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Stooping to Subterfuge

At some point in the past month or so Penny evolved from infant to sentient being. She’s developing a personality and habits and is grabbing and attempting to eat anything within a 12-inch perimeter. She’s particularly good at independent play, something we promote, mostly because we’re too tired to entertain her all the time.

We’re all for teaching her to develop and use her imagination. We’ve even invented a new character to help her along the way, the Magic Toy Fairy.

It works this way – Penny starts fussing a bit, maybe a half hour or so before we want her to wake up. Her tone clearly indicates that she isn’t uncomfortable, just bored. What is a new parent to do? Sleep is a commodity, so do we give up that precious half hour? Penny is perfectly happy to kick around and play without our attention, but once eye contact is made, its time to pick her up. Enter the Magic Toy Fairy.

The designated new parent crawls into her room, making sure to remain obscured by the crib bumper, picks up one of her toys, and dumps it over the edge of the crib without being seen. This is followed by a similar, careful exit, and presto, back to blissful sleep for half an hour, while she plays with the toy.

We wonder what Penny thinks of all this, though. I mean, toys magically appearing from the heavens, dropping into the crib? How cool is that? The Magic Toy Fairy strikes again.

What would you like the toy fairy to bring to you?
	A bottle of 1990 Château Margaux
	Two extra hours of sleep
	1966 Pontiac GTO
	A pair of Jimmy Choos
	Pancakes...every day
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