Last night, right in the middle of Little Bill and a wild online shopping session at Nickelodeon.com, the dang power decided to go out. It was a little bit after 6PM and of course, the house went pitch black. I immediately had three antsy little bodies demanding that I call PG&E and instruct them to turn their TV back on, or at least call Grandpa D and have him come "fix things." When I declined both requests, I felt as though I had a minor mutiny to contend with as none of the savages were happy.

After lighting every candle in our house (which was absolutely disgusting since it was a mixture of different burning fruit and cinnamon smells) and tracking down batteries and flashlights, we settled into a "pioneer" evening. Let me just say, the children and I don't do pioneer. At least not very well. You'd think they'd enjoy the peace and quiet, the beautiful solitude a lack of electricity could bring - oh wait, we are talking about kids and not my own feelings. Definitely not the same sentiment.

The first issue we tackled had to do with the bathroom. The absence of power to our well pump means no water and sets the tone for required lackadaisical toilet flushing. The two oldest suddenly decided they had to pee and an argument ensued over who would get to go first. Taterbug questioned C-dub's aim and C-dub questioned Taterbug's hygiene. It was settled that they'd both just hold it as long as possible. I just told them to stay out of my bathroom.

Once the bathroom issue was settled, C-dub decided that we needed a roaring fire in the fireplace to help light up the living room. While he was stacking kindling, I could hear him muttering, "I weally need some light and fiyer. Don't panic, don't panic...." He was sucking his little lip in and out and sputtering as he struggled to stack the wood just right. I don't know if he understands what it means to panic but it looked liked he was on the verge of something.

Meanwhile, Taterbug decided that the undue stress of no power and no internet was causing her acid reflux to kick in. She lay moaning on the coach, whining that the lack of power was "like totally freaking her out."

Gunny was the calmest of the brood. He relished in the fact that he could do practically whatever he wanted as good 'old Mommazilla couldn't quite see his evil doings in the shadows. I watched him run around the room, casually blowing out the candles I had previously lit, chanting, "Happy berfday Gunnah!"

I was already going crazy after only ten minutes into the outage when Taters came up with the idea that we could read a book. After breezing through chapter one of "Captain Underpants: Attack of the Talking Toilets," Gunny and C-dub decided that their Monster Truck book would be a better read. Rather than listen to the impending argument, we switched gears and played charades.

Charades is not a game I normally enjoy but I thought between the four of us, it might be fun. Taterbug did a great job while C-dub took it as the opportunity to run around the living room, leaping over furniture and tackling cardboard boxes - obviously, he didn't quite catch onto the idea of charades. Gunny, seeing how cool his older brother was, then mimicked his moves and added in the "Gunnah scream." And so was the end of charades.

I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden someone started channeling the Village People and charades turned into a homemade singing version of YMCA. It was hysterical watching Gunny try to raise his chubby little T-rex arms over his head in an effort to make the letters.

After singing the song five or six times, boredom set in again, causing me to ponder just giving in and letting them open all their Christmas presents. Surely this would take us through the power outage and help me regain my sanity. Plus, all the excess wrapping paper and bows would make for an excellent propellant for our fireplace. I'd be the world's best Mommy - at least until Christmas morning when there was nothing left under the tree and they couldn't understand why Santa Claus skipped their house. On second thought, I vetoed my idea although it did have it's pros.

Finally, the fire building, whining, book reading, charades, singing and weak present pondering and saving face of Santa Claus paid off and our power was restored. C-dub ran through the livingroom screaming, "Momma! The technowlogy's back! The technowlogy's back!"

Yes C-dub, thank goodness for technowlogy. At least all my flashlights have batteries now.