Reno Moms Blog Building a Community of Moms in the Biggest Little City
Pure silence. Do any moms out there know or remember what this sounds like? I’m not talking about the calm that comes over your house when the kids finally go to bed, but rather a “hear a pin drop” kind of silence. Over the weekend I found myself at home alone (which was weird in itself) and I rediscovered what true silence sounds like… Bliss.
My husband took the dogs and the kids to the park and I stayed back to get a few things done around the house. I was folding laundry in my room and when I was done I realized how quiet it was in the house. I sat on the bed and just listened. No crying, no TV, no appliances running, no sound of dog nails clicking across the hardwood floors. Absolutely nothing. It was so peaceful. Next thing I knew I was lying down on the bed thinking. I could actually hear my thoughts clearly. And, they weren’t about check lists or things I had to get done. They were random and frivolous. It was pure bliss.
My bliss was very short-lived though. I maybe had 20 minutes of silence when I heard the door open, then voices, dogs panting, something being knocked off the table and crashing to the floor and the dreaded, “Where’s mom?” My moment was just that, a moment. It was nice while it lasted though. So, as quickly as I had noticed it was quiet and I was alone, I was up and in the living room to greet my family and surround myself with our constant commotion.
Don’t get me wrong, the sound of my kids playing and laughing is something I could listen to all day, but the house is only quiet in the wee hours when I’m asleep and can’t enjoy it anyhow and being home alone is truly rare. Having a moment to myself without any distractions was an exceptional treat. If only I could have more of those! I can only imagine how different my demeanor would be if I had this break every day or just once a week even. It was refreshing, reinvigorating even, like a good nap but without the sleep.
I think my few minutes of silence reminded me that I need to make more time for myself. As a mom I’m so busy and life is so loud. And, while pure silence only comes around once in a blue moon, some quiet time reading or looking at the stars before bed would probably be as Martha Stewart says, “A good thing.”
