Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s)
So, yesterday afternoon, we drove the kids over to Grandma & Grandpa’s (well, almost all the way there…. we met in the middle…) and now we have a couple days with no kids! That’s great on a couple accounts… 1) Grandma LOVES to have her grandkids… especially stay overnight, and 2) we get to have some time together, alone, and… quiet! We went out for a nice leisurely “lupper” (That meal that is neither lunch, nor supper… but, “lupper”…) last night at Olive Garden with a gift card (which helped tremendously!).
When we got home, the quiet was kind of nice. But kind of not nice. I missed our kids. I think Jen did, too… though she was enjoying the quiet a bit more than me. We fell asleep on the couches watching the second football game of the day (even having missed all of the first one!) and it was still just very… quiet.
After not too long, the quiet just made me realize how much I love the Life that is in our house. God has richly blessed us with four great people that he added to our family. I was quite surprised at how much I really did miss having them there (they had only been away for several hours at that point) and how little I was enjoying the quiet.
Jen was dealing with it as well. The kids take all of her focus and energy, emotional and physical, and once she didn’t have that, she was a bit directionless, and was having to deal with some internal things that she had not had time (or taken time?) to face since she is busy with kids from the time she rises in the morning until she crashes at night. That was not a pleasant part of the evening (nor is she likely past it…), but it was another part of the quiet. Perhaps that one will be good in the long run…
Finally, when we did go to bed, I turned everything off in the house as I normally do. This time I turned off the monitor to the girls room, too… which I do not normally do. As I was laying there with Jen, I could hear her breathing/moving… but all else was silent. That was strange. Almost sad, actually. Usually there are some signs of life in the house. Either breathing, or slight movements… creaks of beds, something. Last night… there was quiet.
There’s certainly something to be said for quiet. It is enjoyable at times, but I suppose (maybe for the first time) last night I realized that I enjoy the “noise” that God has surrounded us with. We are really quite blessed to have the incessant noise that generally permeates our house. It means our family is full of vibrant life. And I guess last night reminded me that I wouldn’t have it any other way.