time

Every day this week, Charlie has been leaving the house before 7:00 AM and not returning home until past 6:00 PM. We've been extremely busy with gymnastics, triplet play dates, baking gingerbread, grocery shopping and park hopping.

Although the days typically go by at warp speed, this week I have found myself looking at the clock a lot as each hour seemed to drag in to the next.

Particularly those hours spanning from 3 to 6 PM.

Tonight, Charlie came home a little early. He loaded the kids and the baby in the car and took off to relieve me for an hour. In that hour, I scrubbed the remnants of a grilled cheese sandwich we had for lunch out of a pan, washed our butter crock, folded a laundry basket that was 1/4 full of dish towels and drank a glass of water.

Now, they're home, again.

That was the absolute fastest hour of my entire life. Although, the 30 minutes when the kids were engaged with Super Why this morning ... while I packed a picnic lunch and made the beds ... seemed to tick by exceedingly fast, also.

Is it possible that time goes faster when it's quiet? Do sound waves create a friction that impede the rate at which a clock hand progresses?

It's a curious thing.

(Would you think less of a person who tossed a few books outside and told their family to read quietly in the car until they could see the first star? Personally, I think that's a much better option than turning off all the lights and dead bolting the door.)