Flashing lights are not just for the disco

This morning my family was getting ready for the day just like every other morning.  The big boys were downstairs eating breakfast, Jay was looking for a particular pair of socks in his drawer, Todd was on his way to the closet to get dressed, and I had just laid the baby in the middle of our bed to get ready myself.
Todd hit the switch to turn on the lights.  He said, "Close your eyes, baby", talking to Gabe who was barely awake.  I stayed close, to shield Gabe from the bright lights.  Flash on, turn off, flash on, turn off..."What in the world?" Todd asked.
Our ceiling fan lights were flashing on and off.  They are on a dimmer, so Todd tried to dim them down, didn't work.  He turned the lights off, then back on, didn't work.  He pulled the fan chain and then the light chain, turning parts on and off, didn't work.
Just then Jay came in from his room, "What's wrong with your lights?" he asked looking from the fan to his dad, to me, then back to the flashing lights.
Finally, Todd threw his hands up in frustration.  "This is ridiculous!  I guess we'll just have to get dressed in the dark."
"Well, that's silly." I said to Todd, then proceeded to try again exactly what I had seen him do.  With no more luck at fixing the lights than he had, I gave up too.  Instead, I opened the curtains to the bedroom.
Baby Gabe seemed happy as can be to lay on the bed in the semi-darkness watching his parents get ready for the day.