Houses without children are quiet. But so are graveyards.
-- Author Unknown

Before the kids, your life had peace and quiet. It had order. Everything had a place and everything was in its place. Your grocery bill totaled $50 tops every 2 to 3 weeks, and your grocery items did not include Princess toothpaste, Bob the Builder cereal, or extra cheesy pizza Lunchables®. The television was yours; no TV shows with Disney characters or yellow sponges that hung out with starfish, squids, crabs, or squirrels in bubbles. Your frown lines were not as pronounced; a play date was just for you and that special somebody to “play”; and driving a van, mini or otherwise, was for parents whose lives revolved around the kids and the numerous and assorted activities per kid.

Oh, the nostalgia of it all!

Now, after the kids, not only is everything out of place, you don’t even remember where the places were to begin with. Your grocery bill, cable bill, and gas bill (for the minivan, of course) are double – no, triple what they used to be. And the noise! Geez, could we just get a little peace and quiet?!

The things we did before our kids came on the scene seem fabulous now. When things get wild around the house, for many of us, it has become customary to think on the days when things felt simpler, were quieter, and were all about you. You were responsible only for yourself. You only had to keep up with your clothes, your schedule, and your stuff. You didn’t walk around picking up this and that or stepping on that little thing. And you didn’t walk around sour-faced sounding like your mother.

But in the next breath, you couldn’t imagine your life without your kids; they’re the greatest things that ever happened for you. You didn’t know you could love this way or this hard, and you don’t know how you would have developed patience, tenacity, or grace had you not been CALLED to be a parent. Yeah, you’ve got frown lines. But your laugh lines and happy heart – both from laughing at preschool innocence and preteen attempts at looking like a Cheetah Girl or the next big rapper or pop star, while still needing to be tucked in at bedtime and kissed before leaving the house – far outweigh the creases in your brow.

Sure you’d love just a little more quiet, a little more time for yourself, and just once, you’d like to sit on the toilet without being interrupted with stares, question, or just general comment. But having that beats the alternative of being without your children at all.

Here’s to our children, the noise and all.

Sadiqqa © 2007