It’s funny, how calm I remain

I

barely pay attention when my seven-year-old daughter comes out of the shower on Motzaei Shabbos with purple lips. “The water was freeeeeezing!” she exclaims. “I turned it all the way to the hottest and it was still freezing!”

Her teeth are chattering, her eyes glowing with adventure, but I’m too busy whipping the kitchen back into shape in the aftermath of Hurricane Shabbos to grow alarmed. I tell myself that she must have mixed up the hot and cold functions, which happens sometimes.

A few hours later, after our first Melaveh Malkah of the winter season winds down and the older kids troop off to shower, I am forced to snap to attention.

The water is freezing. It’s impossible to shower. Other than the hot water dispenser we use for coffee, there is no hot water anywhere in the house.

Here’s the thing with hot water tanks that break on you unexpectedly.

They leave you without hot water.

You can’t be left without hot water.