Boys and Girls

I have probably said at least once before that I believe some people are meant to have children of only one gender, in my case boys. If I had had daughters, I'm sure I would have loved them just as much as I love my sons. I love my little granddaughters very much. Their high-pitched voices, though, pierce through my brain -- not all the time, just when they get loud. It doesn't help that we've been spending way too much time in the car. My son has been driving and turning up the music; the girls try to talk over the music or "pick" at each other, and all the while, I clench and unclench my jaw, staring out the window and trying not to lose my mind. Then the girls giggle, my son turns the music down, and my sanity remains intact.

Maybe it's not a gender thing. My female friends and I were not "shriekers". I don't remember having a high-pitched voice even when I was a small child. (My mother may have remembered that differently.) I am so happy that my son and his girls are here to visit, but I'm also glad that they went out for a short ride to my other son's house for a half hour or so while I stayed home to "get things done". I did throw some laundry in, but mostly I am sitting and savoring a few moments of silence so I can chill out and better appreciate them for the last few days they are here. By Sunday they will be gone and I will have all the quiet I want. Until then, I'm trying really hard to raise my noise tolerance, or at least to put the loudness into the proper perspective.