It's a Strange New World

I'm sitting here, downing my second cup of motivation coffee, catching up on email and blogs like I do most mornings.  Except this morning, like yesterday, is strange.  It's quiet.  Really, truly, quiet.

They're all in school.

I've never had a morning with all my kids at school while I was home.  Ever.  My oldest is 16 and before that I worked full-time, which says something about how long this has been in coming.

All three of them talk incessantly, which generally leaves my husband and I looking rather shell-shocked by the time they are all in bed.  And above all the talking is usually other noise: games, music, banging on things, toys in motion, the cat (which also never shuts up), the clunking of all their feet on wooden floors.

But yesterday, my oldest became a junior, my middle a fourth grader, and... my littlest little started kindergarten all day, every day.

Cars: don't head to school without it being on everything.

I had a lot of work to do yesterday, which happened without interruption.  I made phone calls without having to offer lollipop bribes for silence.  The cat lazed on the couch without torment. Today, I will run errands without pleas for merchandise or having to figure out how to keep a five-year-old happy while waiting in line.

And at the end of the day - a glorious, cool, sunny, blue-sky day - we rendezvoused and finally hit the trails at the nature center, talking over their first day at school, new teachers and old friends.

It was conversation enjoyed.  Talking that wasn't mere noise.  I missed them.

It's a strange new world.