Electricity Nazi

When I was a kid, I thought my dad was an electricity Nazi. He would go around the house, turning off all the lights, telling us that we were burning electricity, and don't we know how much it costs to keep the lights on?? Sometimes he would even turn a light off in a room that I was in.

When fall/winter would arrive my mom and I would be freezing but my dad wouldn't let us turn the heater on until at least November 1st, claiming that the heater was too expensive to run any earlier than that. I couldn't wait to be older and have a place of my own. I just knew that I would leave lights on as long as I wanted, and turn the heater on whenever I felt the slightest chill - because I could!

It's funny how life works. Even funnier when I had to start paying my own bills. 

And WOW, electricity is not cheap, my friends. Turns out, I am a worse electricity Nazi than my dad was. If it's daytime, I try to avoid turning any lights on, if at all possible. The biggie though, the heater? That's a tough one. Last year I told myself I would adhere to my dad's old rule - no heat until November 1st. The last thing we needed was for a $550.00 bill to show up from the electric company just in time for Christmas...cause that's never happened, (I hate you, electric company!). So I was bent on being strict about the heat and just dressing the boys and me in lots of layers. 

By mid-September I could feel the cracks in my armor appearing. At night, I would be so cold that my teeth would chatter as we lay in bed, even though I had on fleece pants, two pairs of socks and two sweatshirts. I was NOT going to turn that heater on though. Richard would sigh impatiently and tell me to just go turn it on.

"We have children, Kellyn. We can't let them freeze, this is ridiculous."

"They're....fine...(uncontrollable teeth chatter)...I put...three sets...of PJs...on them...(uncontrollable teeth chatter)."

Well, I lost. Apparently I have a very low tolerance for cold. Before October even arrived we had the heater running from 8am to 7pm. Mmmm that heat felt so GOOD though, I didn't care!

Until the electric bill arrived.

So this year I am going to try really hard to avoid turning the heater on. I am aiming for November 1st again, which I know will not be easy. The Universe is gearing up for the battle already. It's still August, and the weather is storming outside, and my fingers are itching to go switch the heater on...just a little...but I won't! I will be strong. I think.

Oh, and on a related note, my dad, the former electricity Nazi, has gotten soft in the last few years. I was shocked to go to their house last September and find the heater on high AND the fireplace going! I quietly asked my mom how she had managed to turn the heater on without my dad noticing, and to my surprise, she said that HE had been the one to turn it on.

Maybe the boys and I will just camp out at their house until November 1st. Take that, Universe!