"It's Really Quiet"

“It’s really quiet.”

That was my answer when my brother asked me last night what it was like not having any children at home. As I talked about earlier this week the younger of our two children has begun her freshman year at Penn State University and it’s now just my wife and me. Our son, who turns 25 tomorrow, has been gone for two years as he lives in Hoboken and works in New York. Sure he comes home for a weekend visit once in a while but for the most part the noise in our house the last two years belonged to my daughter Alex. She was like a buzz saw, coming and going at a pace that bordered on insanity at times. We kept talking about how nice it would be when she went off to college as things would slow down. Well she’s been gone for less than a week and I have to tell you the quiet is deafening. Doors don’t slam shut, there’s no music blasting from upstairs, the phone doesn’t ring as often and there’s a lot less laundry. We don’t get into heated discussions of where she’s going, what time she’s coming home, who is driving. My wife doesn’t have to remind her to take her vitamin or that she should eat something. Now Common sense would tell you that this is a good thing and we should be happy and part of us feels that way.

However I have to be honest…I miss the noise. It’s not so much the noise but knowing that it would mean she was around. I won’t tell you I miss the stress that comes with an 18-year old daughter but like everything else you have to take the bad with the good and stress was the bad. I miss her voice, her laughter, her smile…even her screaming. I miss her needing me for something because that’s what being a parent is often about.

Actually what I miss most is when she would leave the house and give me a kiss on the cheek and say “love you.” I hope she misses me too…at least a little bit.