I homeschool my three children, so it is not like I ever get much of a break in the day…(child asking for a drink)

It is morning. As I feel my mind…(two children arguing)

I am happy to…(phone ringing)

Honestly, I am trying to write this blog. AS I was saying, I homeschool my three active, beautiful boys, so I never get much time to myself. As I was slowly waking up this morning, I relished the feel of a new day starting. Then a lawn mower across the street started. Neighbors across the alley stood talking in their driveway. Since our house has windows the consistency of paper, all this noise sounded like it is taking place two feet away from my ears.

Two of the children were playing some kind of made-up game with more rules than the IRS, and the third was dribbling a basketball in the living room.

Quietus Interruptus…the story of my life. I- a person who relishes quiet time, a person who needs time alone like others need caffeine -never am alone any more. This is a Lenten sacrifice that I carry all year long.

Sometimes I find myself tuning out, just because I need that space. However, when I do, I invariably find myself rocketing back to earth with the sound of a profound comment pouring forth out of a 5-year-old’s mouth. Or with a 7-year-old’s shattering existential question. Or with a 9-year-old’s declaration of undying love for his mother, who is so far from perfect that hearing of such love for her actually causes her to shatter into 1,000 tiny pieces.

God gives us children. They are full of unexpected side-effects. Like, no more quiet time. Or, perhaps it is not so much a loss of silence, as a filling up of a vacuum I never knew existed within me.