Is the Lack of Quiet Really Bad?

In order to be a contributing blogger to The Zelie Group, we commit as individual bloggers to writing on a particular theme every month. We can write  on the theme once, or as many times as we’d like. The first ten days of the month, we write about the theme as it pertains to our faith. The second ten days of the month, we write about the theme as it pertains to seasons – could be literal seasons, or seasons of life. The final ten days, we write about how the theme of the month pertains to our family life. This month’s theme was:

I had no difficulty writing about this theme as it pertained to my faith, or as it pertained to the post-holiday season. Those words seemed to come easily.

However, when it came to sitting down and writing about the theme of “Quiet,” as it pertains to family life? The words struggled to come all. month. long.

With one picture, let me summarize my month…

This has been the picture I have seen more often than not this month. Shuffling from one activity to the next, working on one project after the next, tackling one illness after another, I have really not had many moments to catch my breath.

So, every time I sat down to write about this theme as it pertains to my family, the words haven’t wanted to come.

Am I bitter about that? No.

Am I resigned that this is my life? At this moment, yes.

If there isn’t screaming crying, there is screaming-screeching, screaming-giggling, and screaming-babbling going on. That’s the way the world looks when a mother has a little one who is still too little to effectively communicate her needs to the rest of us.

Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t a horrible month! We had a lot of fun this month, or at least I hope my children enjoyed their trips to the stores, their trips to the parks and library, their moments of playing outside, and the birthday celebration.

It was just a loud month.

And, as the children were loud, they were also messy and destructive – throwing toys about, leaving abandoned toys strewn across the floors of the house, and deciding to redecorate the house according to some sort of toddler-sanctioned feng shui designs.

Which made blogging about the theme of “quiet” so difficult.

This all left me recalling the sage words of St. John Bosco:

As I look back on the month of January, the screeches of a demanding Little Miss in lieu of words, and the constant playing and noisiness which accompanies playtime, I am reminded they are only little once.

And, I should not only relish this time, but also remind them I love them both…

…even if there is a lack of quiet in our home.

Want to read more about the theme of “Quiet”? Check out the following link, or add your own blog post to the link-up below! Up in February? The theme of “Beauty” – stay tuned as I explore beauty as it pertains to faith, seasons, and my family!

http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=275497