The Old Man On The Mountain

A View From the Backwoods of NH

When The Dog Barked

Raising kids in a two income family can be tough, especially when school hours don’t coincide with business schedules. So was the case when this story occurred. Both the Ex and I had to leave before my youngest daughter had to be out for the bus. The oldest had just started High School, so she had to leave at dawn (yes, it’s a slight exaggeration, but not by much). Our city contracted the same bus company for all the kids, so the High School left at dawn, Elementary School next (for double sessions) then Middle School. And our youngest daughter was in Middle School.

So, as the Ex left for her job (she always took a job far enough away so that I was the one to get school calls first), I took our son to Daycare and headed off for work. The job I was in at the time required a high volume of phone contact, so spending time on personal calls was no easy feat. The area I sat in was like a “low wall cube farm”, along with a couple other folks working the phones as well. And shortly after I arrived I got a “you’ve got a call on line 2” from my co-worker.

I answered the phone as I usually do and a horrified voice on the other end said “You have to come home right away!” It was my daughter, and she seemed agitated. “What’s the matter?” I asked. “I was getting ready for school, when the lights went out and the dog barked.” she said. Now understand, it’s 8:05am, she catches the bus at 8:15am (right next to our house) and I work a half hour away. Feeling a little more relieved that the house hadn’t exploded, I tried to ascertain just what was going on. But an excited 10 year old wasn’t about to let that happen. So the conversation went something like this:

Me: “Did the power go out?”
Her: “Yes – you have to come home right away!”
Me: “Were you in the front bathroom?” (this bathroom had no window, so when the power went out, it turned pitch black).
Her: “Yes – you have to come home right away!”
Me: “Sweetie, you need to catch the b…”

But she wasn’t listening – she was just talking over me and I didn’t have the time as it was a busy day. So I did the only thing I could – after trying to interrupt her a couple of times, I banged the phone on my desk about 4 times, picked it up and there was silence.

Me: “Thank you – now sweetie, you have to catch the bus in 10 minutes and it’ll take me a half hour to get there.”
Her: “No, you have to come home right away…monsters…dog barked…”

Again, not listening – again, me banging the phone, again silence.

Me: “Sweetie, you don’t need to be afraid, the dog will protect you.”
Her: “I know she barked and…monsters…”

Again, not listening – again, me banging the phone, again silence.

Me: “Look, when the lights went out, did you scream?”
Her: “YES”
Me: “That’s why the dog barked. Just grab your stuff and wait out on the sidewalk for the bus.”
Her: “I’m scared.”
Me: “I promise Sweetie, you’ll be fine. Just go out and wait for the bus.”
Her: “No, you have to come home right away…monsters…dog barked…”

Again, not listening – again, me banging the phone, again silence.

Me: “I told you, you need to catch the bus, and I’ll never get there before you do. So get your stuff and go wait for the bus.”
Her: “OK.”

And we hung up. A couple of seconds later my co-worker in the next cube came over, grinning from ear to ear, explaining that she “almost peed herself” when I started banging the phone. Having kids herself, she understood and told me that she wished she’d thought of that. You’ll be happy to know, my daughter survived the ordeal, and the dog only barked at strangers after that. Oh, and the monsters? Well, I explained that the only real monsters in life look just like you and me – but that’s another story.