Three Kid Night

I mentioned the band name “Three Dog Night” last Sunday at dc… who knows exactly why I mentioned it but anyhow my friend, Nancy, emailed me this week and brought me up to speed on its origin. The name "Three Dog Night" supposedly refers to an expression meaning a night so cold that one needs to sleep while embracing three dogs.

I have experienced cold nights before. Not here in Phoenix, of course, but growing up in Iowa I did. The coldest night I remember as a boy was one night when the wind chill was something like 40 or 50 below zero. We didn't have dogs... I did have a few hamsters though... I guess I could have curled up with them. It happened to be the night that my brother and his girlfriend were coming home to visit us from college and their car broke down. Good timing on his part.

There are no “Three Dog Nights” here in Phoenix but I do have three children and there have been on more than one occasion whether it’s cold or not outside a “three kid night” in our bed. For those keeping score at home that’s five all together in one bed. Your initial thought might be that that’s sweet. But it’s not. Usually on those nights I wind up finding my way to the couch. In fact, a couple of different times my wife and I have given up and moved to the kids beds. So, in the morning we’re in their room and they are in ours.

But I can’t complain… we do have beds to sleep in which is more than many people have. And speaking of my brother (which I did earlier in case you forgot) he had to sleep in a crib until age 7. That’s right. Age 7. (It’s tough to have your friends over and invite them to play in your room when you still sleep in a crib!) Fortunately by the time he had brought his girlfriend (soon to be wife) home from college on that truly “Three Dog Night” my parents had purcahased a real bed for him.