The IT manager at my firm was telling me how he was suggesting to the partners that we should install motion sensors in our offices so that we won’t waste electricity even if people forget to turn off the lights to their rooms before they leave. We were talking about how it can potentially be quite irritating if we’re sitting at our desk working and hence not moving much and the lights went off all the time. And how we can potentially set the timer at say 45 minutes and it will reset every time it detects any movement, it being unlikely that someone will not move for 45 minutes.
Well, it just occurred to me that I feel very much like a motion sensor every night when putting Sophia to bed. What I usually do is turn off all the lights, turn on the air conditioner and put her in her crib. I then have to sit next to her till she falls asleep as she would immediately start crying if she sees me physically walking out of the room. But, of course, since its pitch dark, I won’t be able to tell if she’s asleep from the usual way of looking at her face and eyes. I can only rely on my perception of her motion. Ie if she doesn’t move for 10 counts she’s likely asleep. So I hold my breath and count to 10, but in those counts if there’s the tiniest movement, I start all over again, just like a motion sensor.
Mothering the S sisters 