I remember in my youth my father having absolute melt-downs every once in a while after going around turning off the lights in rooms that we would leave empty.
I’d look at him like he had three heads when he had finally had enough and freak out. But now I totally understand.
It’s constant. There simply is no turning off a single light in our house. At times there are probably 30 lights on in my house and it doesn’t matter if I turn them all off, the minute someone goes into another room the light gets turned on there is not even the slightest thought of turning it off until the end of the night when it’s time for bed unless I follow everyone around all day long and play light turner offer.
You would think they all got electrocuted when turning off a light one day and have been emotionally conditioned to never try to turn a light off again.
So I can see now Dad why you had those melt-downs every once in a while. You had had it with being the light police.
Good Morning Gloucester 
How about when you clean up all the toys in one room and you turn around moments later only to find it looks like you have never touched it and the kids are outside playing with something else. All this in the blink of an eye…….OMG! I just sounded like my parents….LOL
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Really nice post. Your father sounds like my father!!!
Lindsey Petersen
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I’m still guilty of this! My kid runs around and sarcastically asks me if the cat needs the light on in the bedroom or why I need 3 lights on in one room. HE sounds like my dad!Bad habits are hard to break.
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My children are completely incapable of turning a light off when they leave a room. Nor are they capable of closing the bread bag, throwing the little pieces of paper between the cheese out or pretty much cleaning up anything in the kitchen after they made something.
Yes, I am my father. Instead of being bummed out it makes me laugh how clueless I was when he screamed “turn the goddamned light of just once!!”
I am deleting the wattage from their inheritance.
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Joey, your father sounds like ME.
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The whole problem is when we’re young we never think when parents tell us to turn off the lights. It’s like oh o.k. Bla Bla Bla. It’s not till we get older that we realize they were right on a lot of things. But we have to go theu it first.
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Hear, hear! The man speaks truth! 🙂
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My Dad, used to “fine” us if he caught a specific child red handed. He collected the fines, and added them up to help pay the electric light bill. Having a need to want to hold onto our hard earned kid money, we learned fairly quickly. Now I walk around in the dark all the time. Oh My.
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Familiar conditioning goes both ways, which is why we “others” innately ignore you
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i DON’T HAVE ANY CHILDREN TO YELL AT ABOUT TURNING OFF LIGHTS ! “WOW” IS THAT WHY EVERY LIGHT IS ON IN MY HOME ? : )
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I love the idea of fining. I’ll have to do that when my 2 month old learns what a switch is… let alone how to walk. I was considering installing those motion detector switches that will turn the lights on and off based on movement in the room. That’s probably me going overboard but oh well.
My wife still yells at me for not shutting the lights off so if the little man is anything like his father she’ll have two people to yell at.
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In my house, it’s the lights and the closet doors. For whatever reason, neither can be off or closed when people are done with them. Arrrrrgh!
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Don’t get me started on open doors. My kids make something in the kitchen and it is like in the scene in “The Sixth Sense” where the ghosts in the kitchen open all the cabinet doors and drawers.
I walk in the kitchen and scream “I see dead people!”
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OMG Paul. That was a classic comment right there!
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I normally find the doors with my forehead as I’m trying to leave the house quietly in the morning without putting on the lights. I should just wake them up instead at 4AM and have them shut the doors!
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I agree! I don’t even have kids!
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Who said it was the kids 😉
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Besides the light issue in my house, it’s the long, long showers by the kids. This drives me nuts.
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Hook a “Clapper” up to every outlet…
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Every time I go in to Lily’s room, there are lights on. Doesn’t matter if it is midday-she leaves a light on…………..
One of my Dad’s favorite comments USED to be “Those people must work for the Electric Company….look how many lights they have on in their house!” Now he likes the lights on and complains when it is too dark!
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My Mom used to fine us a nickel for Yah-but.
Any time you started a sentence with Yah-but, my Mom would say Yah-buts cost a nickel. We learned not to make excuses real fast. I caharge my children a quarter today.
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