Peace and Quiet

I am so thankful to have life back to normal this week.  The kids had a partial week of school last week, in order to study for their end of semester exams.   Friday, our school held it’s annual Soup Supper, so my elementary kids also had a few schedule changes, including no school at all on Friday.

    I have a nice bulletin board hanging in the mudroom where I neatly pin everybody’s newsletters and upcoming events.  I know, this sounds perfectly organized, doesn’t it?  Well, it is, but in order for this system to work, one should actually read the newsletters; as well as pin them to the bulletin board.  Because I opted out of the first step, I missed the fact that Sam’s Young-Fives class met on Monday last week- without Sam.  Late Tuesday morning ,my mom asked me why Sam had not ridden home on the bus with her Monday afternoon.  I looked at her, blankness giving way to confusion, and then slowly realized that when there’s no school on Friday, Young-Fives will meet on Monday; a reminder would have been in the newsletter.

  Dwight took Sam to school for me after lunch on Tuesday, while I layed Naomi down for her nap. By 12 noon the whole house was quiet.  Excitement built up inside of me, as I made my lunch and anticipated 2 quiet hours before leaving for work.  I ate my lunch, made a cup of tea, and went into the living room.  “Plenty of time to sit down and watch the “Sarah Plain and Tall”  DVD,”  I thought.  At that exact moment, my two high school boys walked through the door.

    Their backpacks hit the living room floor with a thud.  Cupboard and refrigerator doors began opening and shutting, as they foraged for lunch.  “Charlie, get off the computer, you have to study!”  “Shut-up Josh, you’re not my dad!”  “Mom!  I can’t find the milk- do you know where the milk is?”  Tranquil.

  Within minutes, Madelyn showed up dropping her backpack next to her brothers’.  “So, Maddie, are you mad that we left you at school?”  Josh asked.  “No, it was no big deal,” Maddie answered.  “We didn’t have any room for you, you’re mad, aren’t you, ” Charlie chimed in.  “No, I’m not mad!”  Maddie insisted again.  They continued the interigation until Maddie actually was mad.  My tea was getting cold and I had no idea what my movie was about.  I asked everyone (really nicely)  to keep the noise down so that Naomi could sleep.

    Once lunch had been consumed, everyone gathered in the living room to take up their studies.  The same livi;ng room I was supposed to be relaxing in.  The movie was an obvious distraction.  Rather than finding another; quieter place to study, Josh decided to stay on, to interpret the movie for me.  “Oh, Mom!”  “Look, how sweet!”  “This is such a cuuute story, Mom!”  “Oh Mom, I just love this story!”  I took a sip of tea and imagined pouring it over Josh’s head, little rivulets trickling down his nose…  “Josh, I have one hour before I leave for work, I’d just like a little quiet time.”  “Okay, Mom, okay; sorry Mom, sorry!” he said, picking up a stack of papers.

  It was relatively quiet for a short time, and then Dwight came home.  He sat down next to me on the sofa, leaned forward to read the mail, and completely blocked my view of the DVD screen.  I tilted my head and leaned over, to compensate.  “Would you mind sitting back?”  I asked.  He sat back, noticing the movie for the first time.  “Oh, look!”  “How, sweet!”  “Look, Josh, look how sweet!”

  As I changed into my scrubs that afternoon, I let myself daydream.  It’s a recurring daydream.  In it, I own one of those new condos downtown; the ones cleverly built into old warehouses and high schools.  I go to my condo whenever I need a little quiet.  Everything is neat and clean there, the frig is stocked with my favorite beverages, the cupboards hold my favorite snacks.  There’s a comfy couch, just waiting for me to flop down on.  There’s no telephone, land or cell, so no one interrupts my quiet.  Dwight thinks my dream is nuts.  Maybe, I don’t know; I’m not the only one with such a dream, am I?