I remember, not too long ago, when the act of disturbing other patrons of a hotel in the middle of the night was in direct correlation to the amount of alcohol consumed, the number of people present and the hour of the night. We didn't feel that bad about the noise and generally toned things down around last call and if ever anyone complained we either shut things down or tried to be quiet.
I even count the Candy Orgy of 2011, when I was sober, pregnant and designated driver to a bunch of drunkards who decided that it was a good idea to buy a ridiculous amount of candy* and then race shopping carts in the parking lot of a Walgreens. I didn't participate, but I was there, asleep on a chair while those around me ate Sugar Mountain.
Now we're parents and vacations with the kids are a little different. After travelling all day Chris and I tried to be responsible (exhausted) adults and went to bed early**. We were horrified when Molly woke up screaming just after midnight. We have a fairly effective pit crew to get awake babies changed, fed and back to bed within about 15 minutes on a regular basis, but this time we couldn't get her to stop crying. So we took shifts walking, rocking and soothing Molly for about 45 minutes to an hour until she finally fell back asleep.
While we tried to calm down our inconsolable little girl we heard others in the hotel rooms around us waking up, talking, and probably cursing us for being the a-holes with a screaming baby that we couldn't get to shut up. I thought about how we'd have to avoid eye contact with rooms anywhere near us while Molly wailed her infamous siren scream. The only person who she didn't disturb was Jack who slept soundly less than 20 feet away.
Once Molly began to settle down we heard a series of cars locking and doors slamming in the parking lot just outside our room. Thinking back to the good ol' days back on Sugar Mountain I figured it was people arriving home from the bar and was relieved. After all, it was only 1AM on the Friday of a long weekend, and Molly was almost asleep again. Noise wise, we probably hadn't done anything too much worse than the night owls returning from the bar. As soon as she dropped off to sleep Chris and I fell back into bed.
In the light of the morning I discovered that Molly's first tooth had finally broken through her gums. Once Chris was up I showed him and we both felt better knowing why she was crying as opposed to a random act of crazy baby behaviour.
Everything was coming up Milhouse as we climbed into the rental car to meet Chris's mum and grandmother for brunch. Unfortunately, that's when we discovered that our rental car had been broken into and our GPS system was missing. There was no sign of forced entry but we found all of the ash tray, glove compartment and drink consoles opened in the car.
It's the chicken and egg theory as to whether the thieves woke up Molly or whether she aided and abetted them by screaming through the break-in while we paced the floors, awake, mere feet away from our robbers.
We went to the drug store, unfortunately not for candy snacks, but to purchase a new GPS unit. I'm almost 50% sure that there wouldn't have been a break in had there been a group of engaging young people shopping cart racing in the parking lot, just saying.
*Including an over-sized gelatin Hello Kitty lolly pop that was the only item that wasn't consumed in the glut of Candyggedon.
**Is a 9PM bed time a little less weak if I mentioned that Chris had two beers and I had a glass of wine in front of a
How I Met Your Mother rerun before we went to bed? Didn't think so, but I thought I'd try.
