Nice House, Nobody Home

This afternoon, as soon as we got home from church, I headed off to a rehearsal. As I was leaving, my husband was packing up the two little ones for an outing to a playground and to grab some lunch, and my stepdaughter was heading out to spend the afternoon with her cousins. When I got home from rehearsal, I discovered to my surprise that I was the first one home, so for the first time in a very long time, I was in the house all by myself.

It seemed eerily quiet at first, but as I’m getting used to the strangeness of it, the eeriness is turning into a peaceful calm. There’s no baby wailing for attention in the upstairs bedroom. There’s no child grabbing my hand and pulling me away from what I’m doing. There’s no husband making a business call. There’s not even a quiet hint of country music or teenage giggling wafting from the upstairs bedroom. The radio isn’t on, the TV isn’t on, no computers are blaring video clips. The neighbors are unusually quiet and the dog up the street isn’t even barking. It’s as if the sunshine streaming through the window is casting a blanket of silence over everything, like new-fallen snow.

I like it.

Now, that’s not to say I’d like it all the time. Without the baby’s wail I wouldn’t get the excited gurgle when I go to get her. Without being dragged into the other room I’d miss seeing my son’s crayon artwork or block tower or new train track configuration. I’d miss hearing my husband in his authoritative (and sexy!) work mode. I’d even miss the giggles and twang from upstairs.

But for right now, I have to say that it’s a really nice house when nobody is home but me. So please forgive the brevity of this entry, but I hear a bathtub and some bubble bath calling my name, along with a cheesy free mystery novel on my Kindle, a couple of leftover Valentine’s chocolates, and maybe even a glass of wine (yes, I know it’s only 3:30 in the afternoon – on mom time, whenever you can get it unmolested is a legitimate cocktail hour).

I'm off to enjoy my nice house while nobody's home.