Early this afternoon we were returning from The Cottage. It is a bit of a drive involving three different parkways. It occurred to me after being on the road for a little while that I was hearing nothing. I had had the radio off so the children could listen to A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the CD player. The CD had ended on the way to The Cottage and I hadn’t restarted it. This does not usually mean we are free of noise. There is usually an awful lot of chit chat and (dare I admit it) even some bickering.
Not today. The twins had fallen asleep and everyone seemed to be content with their own thoughts. I toyed, briefly, with starting a conversation. Being a mom who is really interested in my children’s thoughts I often begin discussions in these moments or I will point out something in the landscape. The landscape today, being the Long Island Expressway, was uninspiring and (please don’t think less of me) having been up a lot at night with teething twins in the last few days I wasn’t all that interested in their thoughts.
I decided to let it ride and see how long it lasted. I spent the next fifteen minutes in a silent car.
God really does love me. It was so peaceful and nice. I offered a fervent prayer of thanks and then just let my mind wander. It was wonderfully relaxing.
I think moms who educate at home often feel the pressure to make every moment meaningful. I know I do. Everything has to be a learning experience or in some way a moment that will fulfill some need. Well today I gave in and let my children be silent. Maybe even bored. I left off the desire to fill every moment of their lives with learning and let their heads be filled their own random thoughts and if the opportunity presents itself I’ll do it again.
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