You might file this one under "too much information."
2 years ago we experienced a 6.0 earthquake here which really frightened my daughter. She got under the table, and was crying. After that there were several "I can't sleep" nights where any floor movement woke her up.
So finally one night I said "I will be here to protect you."
Well, an earthquake hit around 3am one night soon after and I went from a dead sleep to running to her room when she woke up she saw me standing there. I was glad my brain was able to remember to go to her room like that, so I kept my promise.
Typically during a night quake (we have one or two a month, very small, almost unnoticeable except I'm good at noticing them), I wake up, and wait to see if my daughter did. My son and wife sleep through them typically.
Anyway, last night around 1:15am, a 5.5 came and I shook awake, and went from a dead sleep to a sprint in less than a second.
I got to my daughter's room moments after hearing her scream "DADDDDDDDYYYY!!!"
I hugged her and kissed her and told her it was alright, daddy was there.
she replied "yes, you came, but sometimes you don't come."
I said, "you're safe, go back to sleep."
and she went to sleep.
If I hadn't have been there she would have lost about an hour of sleep.
This may seem odd, but one thing I have learned more here than anywhere else, is that when I get an adrenaline dump like that it goes to my stomach and about 15 minutes after I calm down, my stomach really hurts for a bit.
Those who have been in a field may sympathize, there are times when you JOLT awake and react quickly. Mostly it's quakes here or an odd noise that jolts you awake.
So I lost around an hour of sleep last night thanks to the quake.... but it was worth it... I was there with my little girl able to make her feel safe.
