The Hardest Part So Far

Funny how 6 months ago seems more like an entire different lifetime. But honestly that's how it feels. My past life was filled with a full time job and peaceful quiet evenings. The sound of yippy little dogs was the only disturbance once I was settled into my recliner for the night. Truly it was my favorite thing, escaping the noise of the day. Patrick Watson was certain onto something with The Great Escape.

That was a lifetime ago though and its far easier to romanticize about where I found a peaceful moment than to remember why I needed it in the first place. 

This new life is more like a Jackson Pollock painting of noise. An attack on the senses with no symmetry or reasoning. I have had my head shoved in the tail section of a T-38 jet, with another person on the outside using basically what amounts to a pneumatic hammer to pound in rivets while I bucked them, for hours on end, and that was still a less abrasive sound than a 3 and 5 year old screeching in argument. I'm not sure at what point children gain volume control of their voices. Or do parents just lose enough hearing that it all equals out? Regardless, the sound of it all is the hardest part so far. 

The sheer volume and constant barrage of sound is a test of patience. Sound sensitivity is a very real issue for many people. And patience is proving to be an uphill battle for me. 

I never had to deal with children, especially day in and day out. My sense of how they interact and how much they understand and my expectation of interaction with them is skewed by only ever having to deal with fellow adults. When they are good, they are great, but when they are not... I find myself feeding into it. It's a side of parenting I must continue to learn. 

It always seems that just about the point I want to start tearing my hair out they flip the switch back to sweet and all that noise and chaos was a lifetime ago.

Weekend projects and a special thanks to Karen and Steve.

Our deck and fence needed a fresh coat of stain. We rented a pressure washer to strip the wood down.

Steve brought us an industrial paint sprayer to make quick work of this project.

Had to get a good soak on the new lattice.

Karen taking a quick break with her pups Finny and Binny.

Still some staining to do on the newly rebuilt deck steps but it already looks a lot better. Hopefully we can get it all finished up this weekend and get back to relaxing outside in the cool evening air. Maybe even a little quiet time when the kids are down for the night.