The Sound of Silence
I’m the type of person who relishes quiet. Ambient noise is fine as long as it’s not louder than a clock ticking. My two kids are the opposite of quiet. They’re not just loud. They’re shrill and thunderous at ear-piercing levels. Never in my life did I think children of mine would make this much noise. It’s not just the noise; it’s the talking. When they were babies, I made sure to talk, talk, talk, talk and talk so they’d learn language more quickly. (Or that was the goal anyway.) Now, they don’t stop talking from the time after their first yawn in the morning until their little eyes close at night. They talk about everything. Lately, my son wants to talk about dinosaurs every night at bedtime. Then my daughter wants to “tell me one more thing” each night before bed. They talk to me about stuff other times too but bedtime of course is special since they need to verbalize any thought that’s popped in their head throughout the day. I’m happy they can talk, and talk well, but I’m seriously considering getting them their own phones so they can call their grandparents to talk about all this stuff.
Then there’s the yelling and screaming. It’s usually when they’re happiest that they’re the loudest. They typically play together very well but there’s something about the two of them that creates absolute chaos when they’re together. They chase each other around the house and around the yard, screeching the entire time. Whoever coined the phrase “the pitter-patter of little feet” did not have children. I guarantee it. The only time I can’t enjoy silence is when my kids are both in the house but they’re being quiet. Just this past week, I inadvertently drifted off to sleep on the couch for about 10 minutes after dinner (it was quiet enough) and then when my internal dread-o-meter woke me, there was cooked rice smeared all over the table and my son had colored all over himself with marker. Not the worst thing that could’ve happened but it was still annoying.
This brings me to my point. I love alone time. Specifically, I love to travel alone. Now by traveling, sometimes it’s just me going to the grocery store by myself or taking a drive around the county. Then there are the times when I go out of town for work. It’s usually only a day or maybe two, but the silence in my hotel room is glorious. I don’t even turn on the TV (which is unusual since I love TV). I revel in the beautiful stillness of a mute room. My ideal vacation? A room with a lovely view, a huge bed and not a single person nearby. No phone, no computer, no tablet and no TV. Just absolute quiet. I’ll take a clock ticking in the background and an old-fashioned calendar. That way I’ll know when my fantasy time is up.
In real life, I have to carve out moments of silence for myself. Every once in a while, I get home before my husband and kids, giving me the benefit of privacy and quiet. Trust me, that’s a win-win. Now I’m sure when the kids get older and they’re out of the house more and it’s not cool to talk to mom anymore, I’ll be nostalgic for their hollering and constant talking. That’s why I’m making videos of their hullabaloo now so I can fondly reminisce of when silence was rare. When they reach that age, I’ll probably wish for less silence in my life. In the meantime, don’t judge me if I buy some earplugs.
-Amanda Scott, Program Manager for the Liberty County Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Right Blend Blog is written by three different authors employed by the Liberty County Chamber/CVB. As we are able we rotate weeks and each write about our individual experiences, opinions and let our writing reflect our personalities and creativity. All content provided on The Right Blend blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.
