A few years ago, I had knee surgery. True to fashion, the hospital asked me to come in early for pre-op procedures. I was asked to arrive at six. Since we had no one to watch Zoe for us, my husband and I woke our daughter up at 5:30 so we could be at the hospital on time. So we got Zoe up before sunrise, gave her a small bite to eat, and hit the road.
After check-in, my husband decided to drive home with Zoe to nap while waiting to pick me up (it was an outpatient procedure). What we did not plan for was the reaction Zoe would have upon seeing her first sunrise. As Eddy (my husband) and Zoe headed home, the morning sun was slowly peeking out over the horizon. My husband pointed it out to Zoe: “Hey Zoe, look outside…the sun’s coming out.” As Eddy looking in his rear-view mirror, what he saw in Zoe’s eyes was a look of total and complete panic.
And then Zoe started screaming.
“My night! My night! What happened to my NIIIIIIIGHTTTT?” Zoe panicked, because at that moment she felt that everything was going backwards. We’ve all told our kids that the sun comes up in the morning, and goes down at night. Well, when we woke our daughter up at early hour, Zoe was still under the impression that it was nighttime; to her, everything was now working in reverse. This first view of the rising sun rocked our daughter’s sense of day and night. It took my husband about 30 minutes to talk Zoe down. And after that, my husband definitely needed that nap.
Anyone else had an experience like this?