My children's voices

My favorite sound is the sound of my children's voices.  Not just because they are my children but also because they are happy children.  That does my heart good.

For the first five years of Sarah's life and the first three of Mikey's, they were each others only playmates as there were no other young children on the block.  Consequently they were around home more than say, when I was a kid on the same block.  Mikey and Sarah are normal siblings who have their share of heated arguments but mostly they played happily together.  They are each others best friend as well as sibling.

The best thing about being a mother who stays home is that you hear so many more conversations between your kids that you would miss if you weren't there.  Some bickering, some bossing but mostly just happy playing and talking.  If I had to pick a favorite conversation to recall, it would be tough.  Sarah and Michael were hilarious. 

It dawned on me at Thanksgiving, that soon Mikey would be heading off to college and Sarah would be moving on as well.  It wasn't the empty nest feeling I had so much as feeling that soon for the first time in 21 years I wouldn't hear the sound of my children's voices in my home every day.  WOW!  That about kills me!  I can be miserable or I can be grateful.  I choose grateful.  I have many wonderful memories of their funny, heartbreaking, angry, or flat out entertaining conversations.  It's all good.

For now they both live here, talking amongst themselves, in recent years including their friends who pass through the house.  It's a while before Mikey goes off to college and Sarah moves out on her own.  Occasionally I hear them laughing, maybe an "educated" argument with voices raised and these days with them grown up, maybe a cuss word or two thrown around.  That's alright by me. My children's voices, happy or otherwise, in my home.

p.s. Favorite conversation?  When Sarah was 6 and Mikey was 4, I passed by their bedroom and saw them sitting at their yellow and blue Little Tykes picnic table.  One child on each side, facing each other with their collections of two-inch tall people and animal figures.  I believe they had originally come from kids meals; we bought them at garage or estate sales for pennies.  It was the cutest thing to watch but I backed up so they wouldn't know I was there.  They were role-playing with these toys that Sarah refered to as her "guys".  So, they're playing with their "guys", talking away, asking how they feel, how they slept, etc.  The next thing that I hear is: "What do you guys want to do today?  I know!  Let's go to an estate sale!"