Too Many To Count

When I am home alone I rarely have the television or the radio on. I prefer the gentle noises of the washing machine getting our clothes clean, the dishwasher getting the dishes clean, the click click of the keyboard as I type, the sound of Millie crunching her food against her metal bowl and the sweet sounds of silence. It helps me think, to ponder and to plan.

I love the noises that come with family life. Listening to Beloved tell about his day, hearing the music that that teens love, the canned laughter of cartoons, the shouts of play, giggles of love and even the "mom can I's" but when I am alone I don't choose to fill the air with sound. I don't talk out loud to myself, I don't sing. I am quiet.

This month in the Ensign there was an article about how technology drowns out our ability to hear the Spirit and it's promptings and I know that is so true. There is something restful about quiet.

I have noticed that if they kids run around playing or watching TV with us, or whatever until 9pm and then go to bed they are unsettled and cranky in the morning. If I tuck them in bed at 7:30-8:00 and they quietly read until the same time and then go to sleep they wake up rested and refreshed. The quiet recharges them.

We are overrun by noise....

Hmmm,

on the same, but completely random note, I am so looking forward to sitting on the deck of the ship, staring at the ocean, feeling the sun beat down on my legs, reading a book and hearing the waves & gulls & other songs of the wild.