Don't Wake Daddy

       I am in day 5 of the great search for kid friendly fridge magnets.  Now before you say it, I already have the kiddie alphabet ones, however I am not a fan of having to do the "J thrust" as my daughter chokes on a "J" piece.  I have searched all the best places in Maple Ridge (Read: Superstore and Winners) and have come up empty handed.  I then decided to check out "Toys R Us".  I'm not a fan of any store that thinks butchering the English language is cute by replacing a real word with a letter-R instead of are for all you twitter folks who probably think R is actually the correct oxford dictionary spelling.  To me it's just as aggravating as replacing the first letter of the word with something similar sounding (Kute Kuts I'm looking at you). I finally broke down and did some online shopping because I am running out of ideas.

Anyways as I was searching their website, I came across an ad for a board game "Don't Wake Daddy".  Apparently this is a game that you can buy.  I can and by extension you can play this game already for free without dishing out $19.99 and spare yourself the pain of stepping on all the mini pieces that it probably comes with.

"It's the middle of the night. You're in bed. You're starving! You'll have to creep from the house to the fridge. But can you do it without setting off Daddy's alarm clock!" 

This is the description on the box.  For anyone who lives with someone working shift work, this sounds familiar, like I don't know....reality.  Half my day is trying to keep Dave asleep, whether it is the cat, Lily or myself interfering with this goal. Night shifts are the worse by far.  The only way to do it is to just leave the house during the day.  Two weeks ago when we got snowed in it was terrible.  In case you have never been to my apartment (someone other than my mom might check this blog out) it is a single floor open plan small space, which means it is very hard not to hear everything that is going on.

Come to think of it, we actually match the people on the box. I'm the blonde girl because obviously I'm a natural blonde.

    The first obstacle is the cat.  Oh Shadow (shakes fist at shadow), the dumb animal can't decide if he wants in or out of the room. It's tragic, if he stays outside of the room he can't get his filthy paws all over my bedsheets or teabag my pillow but if he chooses to stay inside the room he is isolated from his litterbox and food.  The cat can't tell his head from his butt but in the last few months he has figured out how to open the door to get in. If the door is open a crack he tries to open the door from inside the room only to slam it shut.  If for some reason he can't get in or out himself, he scratches, claws and howls at the door.  This means that every 10mins he is opening and slamming the door shut (or howling).  A familiar sight in the McRoberts' household is Dave opening the door half asleep handing me the cat.     
           If the cat doesn't get him, Lily surely will.  She's not even one, I don't think I can legally muzzle her unless she was a pitbull.  She lately discovered her own voice but her inside voice is as hidden as the fountain of youth (she doesn't get that from my side of the family).  She also likes to put her toys on the coffee table and then knock them off just to hear the sound it makes.  Also she will bang on the bedroom door screaming like she's dying.  A few times Dave has come running out of the bedroom to see what appendage she lost only to discover she is having a temper tantrum because I wouldn't let her hit me with a back scratcher.  Tonight when Dave went to bed early(working early mornings) she managed to figure out how to open the door as well. She then crawled up to Dave's bed and tried to stick her fingers up his nose-a variation of hitting him with the remote control when he is napping on the couch.
       Finally in our triage of disruption is me.  I don't have a quiet mode, an hour after Dave finally gets to bed is the time I decide to empty the dishwasher or move furniture.  I also realize that I cannot live another minute unless I grab something from the bedroom like a sweater or a hair elastic.  I also have a bad habit of not retaining vital information so a few times I'll go running into the room going "what time are you suppose to be up?" and Dave will bolt up thinking he slept through his alarm.
    Of course you add in external phone calls, watching TV or having the lights on (apparently it shines in the crack in the door) into the mix and there is a reason why my husband sometimes looks like an extra from "The Walking Dead"...
If you still want to go out and buy this game. I'll make you a deal:  Come over, hand me a twenty.  If you can make it the whole day without waking up Daddy  you're far better than us (and maybe Dave can come sleep at your house).