Where did this screaming baby come from!

After a nice long afternoon nap, a bottle and happy playtime, one of us suddenly becomes  inconsolably fussy. Of course, this bout of screaming comes on right around 6pm, just moments before our gourmet dinner arrives. Ok, so maybe it was just pizza for dinner, but some nights that is a pretty fancy meal!

So the "baby dance" begins. One of us holds our beautiful wailing daughter and strategically paces around the house while the other attempts to shovel pizza into their mouth. Switch. Switch again. Switch yet again. And again, and again and again....

Finally, a hush falls over the house. Is she sleeping? Could it be? She is quiet. Ok, take a few more laps, just for good measure. It is confirmed, she appears to have finally drifted off to sleep.
Now the fun begins. Can we successfully transfer the baby who seems to be asleep from our arms into the magical baby swing? Slowly, carefully we place her in the incredible motion machine. Quick, get the swing moving before she wakes up! She starts to stir. Oh no, have we just undone the last several hours of calming in the single moment it took to place her in the swing?!? Back and forth she goes... and yes she stays happy and asleep! Success!

Only a few moments have passed with her enjoying the soothing motions of the swing when things suddenly begin to unravel. Why is the swing slowing down? Quick, turn it back on before she notices her blissful rest is disturbed! Why won't it stay on, what is wrong with this stupid swing?!? The batteries! Of all the times to fail us, why now?? NOOOOO!!!

I am off in the frantic search around the house for replacement batteries. Daddy's duty is now to try to manually duplicate the exact speed she has been swinging at long enough for me to gather the batteries. Ok, don't panic, he keeps her moving and still sound asleep. Luckily I remember that I have a stash of back up batteries. But what size does the swing need? Now Daddy has to keep the peaceful baby manually swinging while he attempts to pry open the childproof battery compartment so I know which batteries we need. Size D. No problem, i have a whole unopened package of D batteries. Now all we have to do is open the package, change the batteries and our sweet baby girl will remain in her quiet state of bliss.

Who designed this hellish packaging? After contemplating reaching for a nice sharp kitchen knife to pierce the armor surrounding the batteries, I quickly reconsider. We surely don't need an emergency room visit to sew up a bleeding extremity on top of everything else! Instead I head for the junk drawer to dig for a much safer utensil. Where are the bloody scissors? I know I keep them in this drawer. If only I would have organized this mess before this moment! Oh that’s right, I just used the scissors this evening, they are still sitting in the middle of the counter. Finally the strong as steel, plastic battery packaging has been obliterated. The golden energy packed into a small round cylinder has been released!

The batteries are inserted and sweet power has been restored! Mission accomplished! Our sleeping baby girl reminds silent and content. Whew! Now to sit down and finish our gourmet dinner, it is not exactly warm anymore, but it is food none the less.

Uh oh, someone just opened her eyes.......