Down by One

This week, and next, the Household of No is a much more sedate place:  this week, the Son of Never Stops Eating is visiting the Grandparents of No, eating their food instead of mine.  The day after he returns, the teenager leaves to go on a church mission trip in another state for a week.

For once, they both agree on something: neither one misses the other.

Actually, that isn't entirely true.  The teenager doesn't miss her brother, or if she does, she doesn't share that information with me.  However, after two or three days, my son will usually 'fess up to missing his sister, although there is usually a lot of "YAY, NO SISTER!" prior to that admission.

One definitely noticeable impact: less food is consumed.  Far less food. It is a mathematical mystery how two kids can eat about 4 times the amount of food that one kid can eat.  The same seems to apply to laundry. 

Also, the dog gets a little sulky.  I'm not sure if she misses her people, if she's sad because there is one less person in the house offering treats and walks, or a combination of both. 

Instead of endless bickering, and statements like "Someone clogged the toilet and didn't plunge it!" and "Mom! She drank all the chocolate milk!" and "Get out of my room!" and "Why are you staring at me?" and "Don't put the hamster in my hair again!", the house is blissfully peaceful.  When my son is away, it's also the one week out of the year we can walk in the house without fear of stepping on Legos with bare feet.  It's awesome.

It's also.....really, really, quiet.

Perhaps because in two years, one of mine will likely be gone for good, except for holidays and maybe summer, it seems a bit bittersweet.  I want to enjoy the quiet times.  It is much easier to manage with only one teenager in the house.  But it's just so quiet.  It's foreshadowing of what is to come.

I've started noticing threads on Facebook, and even saying things myself, like "In two years, I'm finally going to get new flooring!" and "Once these kids are gone, I can cook whatever I want for dinner without having to listen to whining!", and "Once the kids are gone, one of those bedrooms is becoming my craft room!" (that's not me; I don't do crafts), and "Once they're gone, I'm turning a bedroom into a library!" (that one might be me).

I won't have to go to the grocery store five times a week to buy milk, or listen to arguments about whose turn it is to feed the dog or unload the dishwasher. 

For years, I thought, well, the teenager will leave, but my son will be with us for awhile.  Then the other day, I asked him where he wanted to live as an adult.  I have this conversation with him periodically.  Usually he says, "I want to live with you".  This time, however, he said "I might want my own house".  When I asked him why, he said it was so that he could have his own rules and have more than one hamster (we have a strict "one hamster at a time rule" in the House of No).

That's a good sign.  He wants to be independent, just like his big sister.  But it also means that one day, the quiet will be permanent, not temporary.  Blissful, peaceful, quiet.

I'm not sure that I'm really ready for it.