OSU Shooting

Today started like any other day. I awoke to four beautiful brown eyes anxiously awaiting the start of their day. So after I petted their furry little heads for a moment, I climbed out of bed and started my routine. Let the boys out, make the coffee, feed the fish, retrieve the paper and check my BlackBerry (showering and getting ready to work comes well after I’ve been up for a while). Much to my dismay, there was a “Buckeye Emergency Alert” and this time the word “TEST” didn’t follow. It said “OSU police. Shooting near McCracken Power Plant. Suspect in Custody. Avoid area. Details to follow.” Now there is a wake up call.

My daughter is a student at OSU. Panic struck. But, I was comforted in the fact that she lives off campus and at 6:30 a.m. she was nowhere NEAR campus. She was at home safe in her bed. But, was she?

Just two days ago at OSU, my daughter was the subject of a break-in while she was sleeping in the house.

Funny thing about the sleep cycle of parents and their kids. For the first few months of their lives, all you want them to do is sleep. Seriously having a newborn is like taking part in a sleep depravation study (except there is no end in sight and your not being compensated). Then they hit those pre-teen years and you’re knocking on their bedroom door at 2 p.m. asking if they are going to sleep their life away. Then they start driving, and you anxiously await to hear the most beautiful sound in the world; The car pulling into the driveway. And, if they are even five minutes late, those are the longest five minutes of your life and the worst goes through your head. And, then college hits. You send them off. The first few months are just weird. But, you get use to it. After 18+ years, you rediscover a good nights sleep.

But, do you? When the phone rings too late or the BlackBerry buzzes you wonder and for a moment panic.

Parenting is a lifelong commitment. And, the cost, sleep…good night.