Tuesday, September 09, 2008

The Witching Hour

In stories and folklore, the Witching Hour is usually the wee hours of the morning, such as Midnight. But for those of us with children, we all know that this a misinterpretation. The real Witching Hour is about 4-6 pm.

Between 4 and 6pm, no matter where we are, no matter what the day has held, my children go berserk. They're tired. They're hungry (even if they just had a snack!). They are wound up and ready to tear each other apart, while vying for undivided parental attention.

In the car? Choruses of repeated soundified cacophony, bounced back and forth, or punctuated with "DHO-WY!!!DHO-WY!!! BE QUIET! I NEED QUIET!!!!"

In the house? Stampedes of elephants rampage through the house, chasing two terrified cats, while singing "Blue's Clues" or the daily Favorite Ditty at the top of their lungs. Sometimes trucks are pushed by said elephants, exponentially increasing the noise.

In the yard? Sand is flung willy-nilly to squeals of protest and sandy bodies dashing past the parental guard into the house... where the child promptly turns into a very sandy elephant.

In the store? I avoid the store during the Witching Hour at all costs. We'll survive a single night without milk, bread, and toilet paper instead.


Any relief from the Witching Hour is infamously temporary. Nothing will eradicate it completely from a day. A method that provides relief today will not work for weeks to come. There is nothing to be done but batten down the sanity hatches and hold on tight... and enjoy the roller-coaster ride.

4 comments:

Andrea said...

I wonder what it is about that time of day? It's such a universal thing. Some days I find that a good set of headphones are helpful.

Ang said...

Oh my gosh... so true, so true.

Maddy said...

I have also tried every variation on a theme, but as you say, nothing 'lasts' for very long, usually only a couple of days.

I wish there was a solution, but like you, I more or less just hold on to my hat, the black pointy one!
Cheers

Stimey said...

I just suffered through the mother of all witching hours. Both Quinn and Sam lost it completely. Alex took over for me and is putting them to bed. I just heard him say, "Do NOT throw things at my head!"

Ugh.