Sounds of Silence

I used to hate silence. If I was alone, I would flip the tv on or play some music....anything to fill the stillness of the moment.

But then came child one, and two, and three, and four.

Now, I'm constantly surrounded by a wall of sound. Who knew that four little bodies could produce so much noise. Then there are those toys. Toys that were obviously NOT designed by anyone with kids. Let me digress here for a bit and list some of the worst toys ever invented (in my humble opinion).

Musical instrument toys-They do not in any way mimic the sound of the real instruments...they only cause migraines of unfathomable size in the listener.

Cars that beep/talk and move-Two bad ideas in one. First the obnoxious trucker voice that says things like, "back it up baby" or "I feel the need for speed." Second, they move forward or backward when you press a button which inevitably results in that vehicle banging over and over again into the wall. Bang. Bang. Bang. 

Tools-I blame Bob the Builder for this. We fell for this hook, line, and sinker. We thought it was so cute watching our boys put on their little home depot orange aprons and work goggles. We bought them the whole tool set and bench so they could imitate their daddy or Bob. They would bang, saw, screw, and twist all in the safe, contained, and appropriate space of their tool bench. But then they realized it was way more fun to use the tools elsewhere....on real furniture, on the walls, on the floor, on each other. They may be plastic but it sure does hurt when one brother clamps younger brother's earlobes. Here was a picture in happier times with those tools.

Tickle Me Elmo-It was cute the first time. It was tolerable the 20th time. But by the 50th time that I hear, "tickle Elmo again," I end up wanting to pound the living daylights out of that thing. It's like he's mocking me..."tickle Elmo again, I'm not ticklish there, hahaha." I got the last laugh though. His battery will never be replaced again. Mute Elmo is so much cuter. (I was going to link a youtube clip of Elmo in action but just hearing his voice resurrected my hostility so I couldn't do it).

Princess heels-Not so bad when we lived in our old house that had carpet. But now we live in a house with only hardwood floors. I hear click click click click click click click click as Queen Selah walks around her kingdom. Inevitably, walking leads to dancing, so I hear fast clickclickclick followed by two slow clicks. Inevitably, dancing leads to jumping, so I hear clop clop clop clop. Inevitably, that jumping leads to her slipping and falling, which leads to blood curdling screaming.  Currently, Selah is quite loudly insisting that I put a picture of her as the queen. How ironic that as I'm writing about noise she is demonstrating my point quite intensely in my ears. So there you go. Can you stop talking in my ear now.

So back to my wall of sound. I feel like I have noise pollution full throttle in my own house. I value silence now. I often crave it. There are some rare moments in my day when all four kids are contentedly reading or playing (with non noisy toys), and it's the most beautiful sound in the world. That is also why I run. There is something so therapeutic about only hearing the sound of my breath going in and out. Yes, I know one day I'll have an empty house and I'll miss all these sounds. Terribly. But today, let me treasure the lack of it.