Blessing of the Week: the sound of silence

Listen carefully--

Do you hear the sound of the kids running throughout the house?  Or fighting in the bedroom?  Or interrupting whatever you are doing right at this minute?  Do you hear a kid's cartoon playing in the next room?  Or whistles being blown?  Or any noisy battery-operated toys?

Funny, I don't.

You see, Saturday DH and I drove the kids up to his parents' home in Chico, where they will all be staying this week while attending Vacation Bible School at his parents' church.  This is something "Oma" wanted to do for years, and finally got to do last year, and now again this year.  DH and I came back yesterday, alone.  We are about to have a whole week at home without any kids.  (well, actually 5 days, as we need to pick them back up next Sat--but that's plenty.) 

(When we were preparing to depart, I made sure to get a few minutes with each girl, to get her attention and remind her of how I love her, to encourage her for the week and give good physical love through hugs and kisses.  I did not get it with Smiley--he was too wrapped up in his playing, but I know he knows his mommy loves him, so it's ok.  He has recently begun responding to my loving words in kind, so when I say "I love you!" he will smile and say back, "I love you too!"  So when I was saying goodbye, even though I could not tear him away from the car he was riding in to get some cuddles, I did give him some kisses, and when I said "You are my special boy," he said back "You are my special mommy!"  That will carry me this week just fine. : ) 

But my FIL, seeing my purposeful interactions with the two youngest, said, sympathetically, "It's hard to say goodbye to four little ones, isn't it."  I looked at him squarely, and said, with a smile, "Actually, no, it's not. ; )  But then I explained to him that just in case something happens to us, I want them to having special loving words and cuddles to remember me by. : ) )

I thought that it would be me at home alone all week, since I knew DH would be working all week.  I was looking forward to that--and all the complete and total quiet that is so rare.  I had already planned out the movies I was going to watch (in the middle of the day, if I wanted!) and the foods I was going to eat (lots of salads and dark chocolate) and the projects I was going to undertake (possibly putting polyurethane on the places on our floor I recently re-stained, to protect them from further damage), and the errands I was going to run (getting my hair trimmed, maybe looking for new short-sleeved tops in downtown Santa Cruz), and other things I normally can't do easily with a house/car full of kids (like take a mid-day nap or have an uninterrupted phone chat with a friend--Susan, let's make a date!--or a walk on the beach during which I can watch the scenery and not the kids--Alberta, I'll be calling!).  I was looking forward to it, but was feeling a little bit sorry for DH, that he would not be able to share in the indulgences of the kid-free life this week. But on the way home from Chico, as he and I were talking about the week, he surprised me with the news that he will be working from home all week!!!!!  Whoo-hoo!!!!  Tecnically he is not supposed to do this, but he worked it out with his boss, and so even now as I write he is here in the living room with me, working on his office laptop while sipping his coffee and eating pecans and dark-chocolate covered caramels I just brought him.  : )   

Well, that changed everything!  So forget the fumey floor chemicals--that project is not gonna happen with DH here all week, and I am so  fine with that (was not looking forward to it, but felt like I would be wasting this week if I did not do it--now I have my out! Yay!) but we did talk about other projects we might try to do which would be more relaxing and gratifying and still good to do with the kids gone, like take down the ugly faux-wood dropped ceiling in their bedroom and then clean and possibly paint the bare boards we expect to find underneath.  And we are gonna sleep in every morning.  And we borrowed the first six Harry Pottery movies and are going to have a HP fest and then maybe get to go see the last one in the theaters!  (If we don't finish this week, my parents are coming back through next week after visiting friends in Oregon, so we can probably ask them for another date night and get to the theater then--this week is NOT about rushing ANYTHING.)  And we are gonna play whatever music we want, and we are gonna go on walks, and we are going to have sex during daylight hours, and we are gonna eat spicy Thai food, and we are gonna have long, relaxing conversations about whatever we want without being interrupted, and we are going to have lots of moments--like this one now--where the house is perfectly quiet except for the sound of us both typing and sipping our warm beverages. 

Oh, yes.

Of course, the kids will never be far from our minds.  Just this morning, as I looked out the bathroom window over our jungle of a backyard, I saw the dirt castle the kids were making last week when friends were over--and I caught back an unexpected sob in my throat.  Not because I miss them already, but because I can't imagine how quiet and lonely our lives would be if we hever had kids.  People who don't want kids should not have kids--I have no problem with married couples choosing to remain child-less.  But still, I think those people are missing out on one of the best things in life.  Kids are problematic, and messy, and loud, and chaotic, and definitely keep us from doing other things that we might really want to do with our time, and money, and adult lives.  But they are also fun, and funny, and make life kind of explode around us, and parenting them grows us into much better people.  I am so glad I am a mommy, esp. to these four great kids! 

So, I don't think I will miss them this week.  But I will have a little ache for the time missed with them, if you know what I mean.  Also, I would appreciate any of you praying readers to keep the safety of my kids in your minds this week--Oma and Opa have a swimming pool right in the middle of the yard with no fence around it.  Oma plans on watching Smiley like a hawk, but he is almost three, and is quick and inquisitive and adventuresome. . . so, that is my only real concern for the week that I am going to just be turning over to God. 

But since my kids are out of my hands, I am choosing to give over my worries and just focus on the blessings that surround me this week. 

Oh, and I forgot to say, I plan on doing LOTS of blogging this week, and finally posting the pics and highlights from our Family Fest.  I finally went through all the photos Mom and Rebecca and I took, and have a lot of good ones.  Most of you don't care, I realize, so don't feel like you have to pretend interest--but some of you have been looking forward to seeing what all we were up to, so this week will be fun for both of us. : )

I noticed I have used a LOT more little smiley-faces in my writing today than I normally do.  Think that says anything about how I am feeling today, and what kind of week I plan on having? 

My dear friends, family, readers, may this week be abounding in blessings for us all.

: )