Silence is golden

An overnight power surge took out our alarm clock and our surge protector, which meant that the router for our cable, Internet and phones were out most of of our day.

At first I felt strangely wierd. The TV I could live without. The Internet meant I couldn't sneak in some work time. But the phones? I felt disconnected in more ways than one.

While our morning meant church and errands, our early afternon posed some questions. Sadly, we'd gotten into the habit of letting our oldest have quiet time watching a TV show while her brother was napping. No such luck today, and frankly, they were wired and wearing on my nerves. (I think the sad fact I accidently typed "wierd" instead speaks volumes too!)

Then creativity hit. I sent my daughter upstairs for some mandated "rest" time in her room. Just read a book or listen to music, but you had to be in your bed. And I whipped up a batch of my great-grandmother's Christmas cookies. (I say that like it's no big deal, but the dough was practically falling out of the mixing bowl, the batch made so much.)

Company snuck downstairs, peeking around the corner into the kitchen. Not yet, I insisted, and she trotted back up the stairs.

I worked in an unusual silence. No music was blasted, no TV noise was on, no telephones rang to interrupt, no "Mooommmmm...." repeated over and over again.

Finally, after nearly an hour of baking and a dusting of powdered sugar covering me after my attempt at making frosting, we were ready to go. I presented my little chef with her own bowl of frosting, which she proudly dumped every holiday sprinkle known to man inside before coating a handful of cookies with her concoction - which was then unceremoniously slathered in more green sprinkles to make the "green sprinkle mountain." I heard stories of her imaginary friend and her excitement over the holiday. Best of all, we talked - uninterrupted - something that rarely happens in a family of four.

At the end of our adventure, our kitchen was trashed, but I'll tell you this - it was a wonderful afternoon. I was almost sad when my husband came home and brought us back to the 21st Century!