Results: Comfort in the Darkness

Nor was the hall or bathroom light left on for us. Did you sleep with a nightlight when you were small?

We actually had something more comforting. The living room was just a few steps down the hall from the bedrooms of our small house. The doors were left open- "just a crack"- and I can still see in my memory the light from the television and Dad's reading lamp coming through. Best of all was falling asleep to the sound of my parents' voices as they talked over the day. Did you sleep with the bedroom door ajar as a kid?

By the time we moved to a larger house, I was old enough to possess a Girl Scout flashlight. This would have come in handy had I been inclined to read under the covers. Happily, I didn't need to suffocate myself to read after lights out. The street light and the foot of my bed were positioned perfectly, and it was easier to prop a book on the windowsill. Reading was a bit of a strain during the summer months when the light came through the screen, but it worked just fine most of the year. Did you use a flashlight to read under the covers when you were young?

My mother's parents did have a nightlight in the bathroom, but it was for their convenience should they need to get up in the dark hours, not ours. And it wasn't near enough or bright enough to provide comfort to young kids, anyway. But the room where we slept when visiting shared a wall with the living room, and the door was left cracked so we could see the warm yellow light of Gran's table lamps. We always tried hard to stay awake and hear the grownups gossiping and telling old family secrets not fit for childish ears. Did any of your parents or grandparents keep a light on at night on when they were older?

After 30 years and two kids, I can navigate our house in total darkness with relative ease. But I have to confess, I don't like walking into a dark room, so a small light over the kitchen sink is always on at night. Is a light left on in any room of your home at night?