The dreaded witching hour

Wikipedia describes the term witching hour as the following: "In European folklore, the witching hour is the time when supernatural creatures such as witches, demons and ghosts are thought to be at their most powerful, and black magic at its most effective. This hour is typically midnight, and the term may now be used to refer to midnight, or any late hour, even without having the associated superstitious beliefs."

In my house, witching hour starts shortly at about 3 p.m., and usually ends when dear husband walks through the door two hours later. Witching hour usually coincides with typically hyper toddler behaviour that may include the following: banging and throwing toys, screaming and giggling loudly, getting into general mischief, tears and crying, and making high demands that can't be met. And there is usually a temper tantrum or two.

Now, let me stress the following: I'm not calling my toddler a witch. She is the most sweetest, kindest and charming little girl in the world. But in my experiencing, witching hour is that strange, two hour window when my toddler, who has usually recharged from her nap, is raring to go, while I'd like to curl on the couch and have a quick cat nap. And usually at this point I'm counting down the minutes to 5 p.m.

Dear husband rarely experiences the witching hour phenomenon. But he did on Saturday. After a run, I was so tired that I had a three hour nap. When I came come down, he was trying to figure out what was wrong with our crying, upset and unco-operative toddler who was refusing all his efforts in trying to comfort her.

Dear husband: What is wrong with her?

Me: (Glancing at the clock). It's 4 p.m. It's witching hour.

Dear husband: Witching hour? What is that?

Me: This is witching hour. (Pointing to our crying toddler). You usually the one who ends witching hours, but since this is Saturday and you aren't working, witching hour will likely go into bedtime.

And it did.

Today, witching hour is going okay. Darling daughter has had her moments. But I'm still counting down to 5 p.m. It is always nice to have an extra set of hands to help with darling daughter . . . as well as a well needed break.