School Days

The day is finally here;
the house is quiet again.
The shrill laughter of children playing
in the hose on a hot day,
and the whines of boredom on a rainy day,
disappear.
No one is running in and out.
No one is slamming the door.
No one is complaining that they’re hunnnngrrrryyy.
There are no fights to arbitrate,
no tempers to calm,
no hurt feelings to soothe.

When lunches are packed,
and homework is found,
and children are delivered safely to their
havens of education,
When all the early-morning clutter is picked up
and the breakfast dishes done,
the house is quiet again,
and for a moment you can relax
and enjoy the silence.
You can breathe deeply and look around at
a room that stays clean for more than ten minutes.

And while there are always so many things to do
and chores and errands to run
and preparations to be made,
maybe just for now, for this short moment,
maybe you can soak in a bath without anyone walking in,
or maybe you can read a chapter in that book that
collected dust all summer,
or maybe you can sit at the counter with a cup of coffee,
sit and look out the window for just this moment,
watch the squirrels and blue jays
and listen to the sounds of ...
quiet.

And when they come trooping home again
in the afternoon,
and lunch pails get piled on the counter
and backpacks dropped on the floor,
when papers fly everywhere, and you need to
see this and sign that and LOOK AT THIS!!!!!!!!
When everyone is clamoring for your attention
and pulling on your sleeve
and looking at you with eyes shining with excitement,
and the pitch of their voices climbs higher and higher
as they all talk at once and try to be heard
over one another,
you can think back on that moment,
that brief, brief moment of quiet.

And you’ll be glad you had it,
but you’ll also be glad it’s over, and
the sweet, clear voices of your children
fill the house once again.