The lights went dark. It was 11 p.m., and there was no warning, no bad weather, or expected blackout, but there we were without any electricity. Feeling very organized, I located, in the dark, my two lanterns that we keep for such occasions. My younger kids were asleep, and my husband was in Shul, but my daughter and I were home in the dark. My cell phone was dying, but I had no way to charge it.

For a few minutes, my daughter and I sat quietly together, wondering what to do next. Then the realization hit me that we usually spent that time on the computer—emailing, shopping, or wasting time. Now I was bored. My daughter and I started to shmooze, and I felt completely relaxed doing it. Usually, I feel antsy talking to my daughter at night, feeling like I have other things I want to do, and I don’t know when she’ll finish talking.

The realization hit me that I was being that “distracted and negligent” mother people refer to with sorrowful sighs. Only now that I had nothing else to distract me did I suddenly have the patience to have a good shmooze with my daughter. The lights went on before morning, but I hope my lesson lasts longer than the blackout did.