Quiet time

"Quiet time" can have so many different meanings.  As a kid, when you're told to go have "quiet time" it usually means "go away" from Mom and Dad and give them a break.  You have to learn to play by yourself.  When you're a teenager, you crave "quiet time" away from the parentals or other siblings, since no one can understand what you're going through in life.  When you're newly married, the phrase never seems to apply.  (Tee,hee,hee)  After your "Newlywed" status has worn off, "quiet time" can be a hot bubble bath with a good book, a morning in the garage tinkering on cars, shopping by yourself.  It's a great time to just unwind.  Have you ever noticed that after you have kids, "quiet time" takes on a whole new meaning?  Yes, it can still mean that you want your kids to play independently of you, but it can also invoke strong feelings of fear and apprehension.  Usually when kids are quiet, they're into something you don't want them to be.  I look back on our "quiet" times and I remember self hair cutting episodes, bottles of maple syrup poured on the living room carpet, bedroom dressers with all the clothes pulled and strewn about the room, a bag of nuts dumped on the floor, a bowl of strawberries dumped on the floor, a poor snail losing his life.  The list can go on and on...and I think we're pretty tame compared to some of our friends and their kid's antics.  But sometimes, there are surprises in life.  Things you would never suspect.  A hint of goodness to be thrown in the mix to always keep you on your toes.  This morning, the kids were super quiet and as the cold, sneaking sense of fear took hold of me, I witnessed this:  Big sister is "reading" her brother a book.  Made my heart melt...and made my feet run for the camera.