James enjoying the sound of silence...and a piece of grass.And then there are the noises from the kids: the crying, yelling for fun, yelling for anger, whining, laughing, singing, persistent and constant chatter.
It's not that these are bad noises. In fact, I love the sound of singing and laughing and even the persistent and constant chatter. Even if it is very loud and right when the phone rings and I'm trying to hear what someone on the other end is saying.
Apology in advance for the 15 times I ask you to repeat something during our phone conversation.
But as I lay my baby down to sleep tonight and turned on the white noise maker so he wouldn't wake up to all the little noises, I looked at him and wondered if he has experienced many moments of silence. After all, he is the third of three little kids. And little kids make a lot of noise.
And for some reason, I think silence is a good thing. I know that if I am surrounded by constant noise, I miss opportunities for thought and meditation that I really need right now!
Tonight I was wondering if too much noise would cause James to miss out on his own important baby-thoughts. Obviously most of the noise isn't going to disappear. I'm not going to tape my kids' mouths shut, we really do enjoy singing along in the car, and one of my favorite things is hearing my kids enjoying each other...loudly.
And I realized one of the best places for some silence is the out of doors. Even if my kids are loud outside, the volume gets lost in the trees, grass, flowers, and blue skies. Instead, we can hear the leaves rustle in the breeze, and honestly, we hear the sound of silence. I love it.
So, tonight I resolved to get James outside more often. So that he can learn to hear the sound of silence and enjoy it.
4 comments:
It's golden, isn't it?
I didn't realize how long it's been since I've had any real quiet, let alone silence. The big noises, sure, but I'm so AWARE of all the little noises. A sniffle? I'm on cold alert. A whimper? I'm on search and rescue. I'm going to listen for the quiet more now... Loved this post.
I love the new pictures. It's so fun to see your kids as they grow.
Love your thoughts. You are a gifted writer. Thanks for sharing, I echo your feelings.
I had such a good time catching up with your blog. Silence, patriotism, cow boys, birthdays...all looks so fun.
Had to chime in that I am a lover of silence. It is usually my music of choice in the car (when possible)....I have been known to say...alright...quiet for the next 5 minutes...you are all breaking my brain. I really enjoy talking in my head, rehearsing conversations, imaginary scenarios, thinking of escape plans, rescue attempts...it goes on and on. Oh...sometimes I just think about playing with those Lincoln Logs(that was great!:))....Heather
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