My house is so very quiet right now. I can hear the rain splashing on the sidewalk outside. The only other sound is the tapping of the computer keys. It is a rare occasion that my home has no sounds.

My sole companion, Baby E, is asleep in his crib upstairs. He smiled when I put him to bed this evening. We have a new game. I lift his blanket high in the air and let it flutter down and land on him. He smacks his arms down to hold it in place until I pull it from beneath him and do it again.

The big kids are visiting my parents, something they have been looking forward to all week. I kept worrying that they would catch Baby E’s cold and be forced to stay home, but like most of the things I worry over, it didn’t come to pass. I hugged C as she got on the bus this morning with a slight sadness that I would not hug her tonight. The same with Big E as I left for work.

Now they are both safely tucked away on their foldaway cots at the foot of my mother’s bed. No doubt Big E will startle my mother awake at some point in the night with an unexpected exclamation in his sleep. He is my night talker. C will sleep through it all. Tim will be home very soon, so for a few minutes at least, it is silent.

I had a friend over to visit this evening. The hours that we sat and talked were so refreshing, a simple reminder that my life does not consist only of messy diapers, sticky fingers, long commutes, and video edits. These moments have the ability to revive my tired spirit and remind me of the importance of community. Thank you, friend!

I missed the kids the moment I knew they were out of town. It didn’t matter that I was at work and that I wouldn’t normally have seen them for several more hours.

I remember the first time we left C overnight somewhere. I was about seven months pregnant with Big E at the time. We were going to stay at a cabin about 2 hours from home. We decided to leave her with my parents for one night so that we could get a short reprieve. I cried the entire drive from my parents’s house to the cabin. And I cried the first couple of hours we were there. And I kept calling to make sure she was fine. Of course she was fine. I, however, was a mess!

But we survived and now when the kids go away a little part of me is really excited to enjoy the quietness their absence brings. But I know when I go up to bed I will look in their room and see their empty beds and wish they were here. I guess that’s part of being a parent. Even when they aren’t with you, you still aren’t off duty!