Silence is Golden

I have just endured one of the noisiest daycare-days in recent history. My ears were ringing with the incessant chatter, loud voices and whining, with running and jumping tossed in to help the floor vibrate a bit.

Kids are kids. Noise happens. But man, oh man! I don't handle the excesses of noise ... at all.

At one time, I ran on a very short fuse. I would anger very quickly and patience was not my strong point. Today felt like one of those old days. It was the noise.

I see no reason why anyone must shout when a quiet voice will suffice. There was one voice that dominated the day. That of a 3 year old boy, who is discovering the wonderful world of vocabulary. Out loud. Non stop. And loudly.

I try everything ... from talking to him quietly and reminding him to talk in a quiet voice. To shushing him. To telling him to just ... think. Thank goodness he still naps. I don't know what I'd do if he didn't.

Then I have two girls (cousins) that arrived together today. They walk in the door and instantly want something they can't have/reach/or do on their own. The first sounds out of their mouths are noises of demanding something from me. They don't speak well, so anything beyond the most basic words comes out as a nasal sounding noise that is pure gibberish to my ears. This background 'music' goes on. All day.

Then there is a 4 year old girl with a loud, loud voice. When some one is bugging her, not doing what she wants ... when she is playing, laughing, talking ... it is all on a high volume. She plays hard, talks lots and if she's not happy, I think my neighbors know it.

Then there are the quiet ones that are just waiting for an excuse to lose their inhibitions and go wild. My quiet one gets very, very loud and rambunctious in the company of a noisier crowd.

There were only 5 of them ... but it sounded like 15.

Noise tires and frustrates me. It feels absolutely heavenly to be sitting down at the end of this long and loud day with only the hum of the computer, the clacking of the computer keys and the background traffic as it drives by.

I'd love to have a little cone of silence to retreat into, on days like this. But the good thing is ... that days like this do come to an end.