Do You Hear What I Hear?

It’s the sound…of silence.

For the first time since having children, we have had a stretch of three days alone – in our own home – without children. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we will wind up with five days home solo (count them, F-I-V-E). Yesterday my phone rang with an unknown number and my heart sank: Oh no. Someone is sick and needs to come home. But it wasn’t camp and I’m assuming no news is great news.

I love my kids, but it has been perfectly blissful to have a week off from parenting, recognizing they are also living their very best life. For once I have zero guilt while relaxing and embracing the lack of parental responsibility because they are having more fun than I could ever possibly provide at home.

So, what have we been doing?

Months ago when we realized the stars would align for us to have a week alone we tossed around the idea of doing a quick road trip. Maybe Quebec City or Montreal? But between John’s pneumonia and recognizing that it’s not ideal to be in another province while your kids are at summer camp, we opted to stay put.

We got up early the first morning and enjoyed a lovely walk in the crisp air.

We ran errands. So. many. errands. Dozens…and we’re only on Day 3. There are just so many adult things to do (mail a parcel, buy new sneakers, deposit cash at the bank, grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store, library) that are much more streamlined if kids are not in tow. I didn’t realize how many things I’d been letting accumulate; those could-be-done-at-any-time chores that feel so satisfying to finally complete.

We ate simple, delicious meals whenever we felt like eating. One night we ate sushi at a local view park. The next night we made shrimp and mushroom corn tortillas – with no one to complain about the mushrooms – and served them alongside fresh, local corn. (Mindblowingly good.)

We worked. I have a lot of flexibility with both of my part-time positions, but it means that in the summer I tend to push things off until I have a reasonable stretch of quiet. I plowed through my to-do list. Is it the most exciting use of time when no kids are in the house? Maybe not, but it feels glorious to have that to-do list whittled down to almost nothing and it felt liberating to not have to race out to pick up a child from an activity, or stop to make someone lunch when I’m not hungry.

I went through kids clothing and reorganized my bathroom drawers.

I took a walk with a friend, got coffee with another, popped in to see another on her lunch break. John and I watched a bit of the Olympics (with no sibling fights about what sport we should be live streaming; another hazard of modern technology – when I was a kid, you had one feed for the Olympics and what was playing on prime time was what you got…now it’s like a giant candy store of sports to choose from).

We spent yesterday thrifting and running even more errands (we scored some amazing deals!) and capped off the day with the most delicious anniversary supper that was everything I hoped it would be and more.

And now I’m off for, you guessed it, more errands – but with the ease of no children along for the ride. Tonight will be an at-home date night and I’m thinking a docuseries on Netflix might be calling our name?

Your turn. If you have children, have you ever been alone in your home without them for consecutive days? Errands – do you always hate them, or do you get a bit of a thrill when you successfully cross many items off your list in a day?

Header photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash