Kids Make Noise??

One of the girls in my office is easily irritated by noise. Not just loud noises, but any noise at all. Provided she is not the one making it of course. It's a running joke with the rest of us to see how long it will take her to complain the moment anyone makes a sound she doesn't approve of. Which, by the way, is basically all of them. A click of a pen, a tap of typing on a keyboard, the feeding of paper in the printer... You name it and she has a hissy fit. I can't count the number of times she's slammed the door to her office because I had to print something.

At the moment, there is a toddler in our waiting room. Her mom is here getting new tires put on her car and as any mom knows, sometimes you have to take them along. Normal people just don't have the luxury of a built in nanny so we don't have to drag our noisy children along with us. The toddler is evidently playing at the moment because we can her a very faint scrapping noise coming through the wall.

This noise didn't even register on my radar. As a parental veteran with 3 kids, I've learned to just tune a vast majority of sounds out. It's the quiet that gets my attention usually, because it means my girls are up to something. However, this tiny minuscule sound evidently sent off a blaring alarm in her head. I just heard her call up to the front desk and ask what all the racket was. Of course, that caught my attention and I started to listen. I could barely hear this noted distraction when I hear her tell the staff member...

"Oh, it's another kid."

Yes, grinch, it is.

Now, currently, she doesn't have any children and I simply cannot wait until she does! I know that she's still lost in lala land celebrating her one month marriage anniversary (which she tells anyone and everyone who will listen, including potential employees she's interviewing), but I'm fairly certain that her rude awaking will not be too terribly far off. Patience is not her virtue. She was dating her now husband for 6 whole months prior to the engagement and was married within that first year. I don't exactly see her waiting to dip her toes into the pregnancy pool too long either.

She's constantly telling us that when she has kids they will: never cry in public, they will not be allowed to run around in public, they will be perfectly behaved at all times. I say good luck! Us moms here in the office have tried to make it clear to her that she's living in a fantasy world, unicorns are not real, and that she needs to be prepared for the inevitable string of tantrums that are in her future whether she likes it or not. But we're not her, so what do we know right?

We're all in agreement that she probably shouldn't reproduce because there's a very likely chance that the poor child will suffer from shaken baby syndrome the first time she has to suffer through hours of endless crying for no reason. Personally, I'd love to be a fly on the wall when that happens and buzz in her ear "We told you so!"

It's just an unavoidable fact of parenthood... Children make noise. Deal with it!

Baby, I've Been Losing Sleep

I absolutely cannot wait to move into a bigger house! Summer simply cannot come fast enough these days. Besides the obvious desperate need for additional bathrooms (see How to Pee Alone) I am also looking forward to the possibility of a second floor bedroom where I might find a few moments of silence. I really don't care how much James likes the idea of a ranch style... This mom is dying for a little separation courtesy of some stairs and a whole floor between myself and the "common" areas.

In our little rental house the walls are basically paper thin. There is no such thing as privacy or peace and quiet here because you can hear everything anyone says in any room you're in. Sometimes it's handy, but most times it's a pain in the ass. When James and I head to bed, that's our special connection time (hey now, clean out those filthy minds!). We usually lay there cuddling and sharing the details of our very separate days. Sounds a little romantic right? Haha, not when the kid yells through the wall "Hey, I'm trying to sleep you know!" Excuse me for wanting to talk and laugh with my partner. Sheesh!

At the moment, I'm laying in our room. I was trying to read and get caught up today's posts. But as I hear this song for literally the 10th time today, I can't help but get distracted.

Lena acquired this gem a couple days ago and she's been playing it on repeat ever since. It's a shame. I liked the song. Now, I really wish I could drill out my ear drums.

Oh and that's not all either! James is in the living room watching TV. I may or may not have gotten him hooked on The Originials and I may or may not have watched it without him last night since he went to bed earlier than normal. Oops!

Well, since there doesn't seem to be any beating them (or available ear plugs) in tunnel of endless sound, I guess I'll just join them instead.