Thursday, November 29, 2007

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.)

12 comments:

  1. I know what you mean! Mark has been away on business this week and I'm stuck here with another nasty cold and a 3 year old child who is obsessed with lollipops.... I don't know how you do it with 3... oops, I mean 4! When are we going to see you guys?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Super Why is by far the shortest 30 minutes of the morning. Luckily for me, it's on two different PBS stations for consecutive time spots...becuase some mornings I really need more than 30 minutes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really need to know how you manage to take care of four small children and make everyone in cyberspace who have been lucky enough to find your blog, laugh their ass off daily. You are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I SO remember the days of watching the clock, waiting for the cavalry to arrive at 6:00. I have no words of wisdom for you, though.
    I am in a phase of life in which I watch the calendar because my time with my kids is flying by. We are less than 3 years away from college for our son.
    You too will get there, but I know now the days are long and you just get through minute by minute.
    Just keep on keepin'on...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Time is going exceedingly fast here in MIAMI, while I sip my Starbuck's and read your blog on the veranda. I can't imagine how fast it will go this afternoon while I'm snoozing in a hammock poolside waitinf for my next mojito!! I wonder how fast it's going for Greg?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I know! I have been putting a 40 minute learning video on in the morning for my twins while I put my 8 month old down for a nap. By the time I put him down, dress the twins, and brush my daughters hair the video is over. I just wish I could atleast get my self dressed somewhere in there too.

    I would really love to hear what your typical day is like. Any sort of schedule? How do you manage to get anything done with 4 kids? Do you spend alot of time sitting and playing with them? Do you try to do any type of learning activities? I've been reading so many toddler books that have me paranoid that I am not doing enough but how on earth can a mother of multiples do it all? I run around the house like a mad woman during naptime trying to clean up and I've been waking up 45 minutes before the kids just so I can get a head start on the day. I still feel like I am way behind.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My mom used to dead bolt the door in South Dakota in winter of course we did not have cable.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I hear ya on all of this. I have to say that Super Why is awesome even if it is the fastest 30 minutes of the morning.
    Nicole

    ReplyDelete
  9. My husband leaves the house at 6am and returns at 7pm every night. So I can totally get your drift here. I don't have triplets so I can't imagine how hard it is, but a toddler and a 5mo old are enough to make 5pm 'suicide hour' in my house. The last two hours 5-7pm seem to strrrreeetttcchhhhh, except on sunday nights when they WHIZ by. Funny, that ;)

    I have been known to ask my toddler in an overly polite voice if he'd like to go and play in the garden at 5pm on a weeknight.... and it's pretty dark, cold and wet out there at this time of year ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am in love with Super Why. Because my kids are having an affair with him.

    I've been studying the theory of relativity lately. I think this post is the first relevant application to my life of the distortion of time...And I'm pretty sure Einstein knew NOTHING about it. That makes us smarter than Einstein, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  11. wow, I love the thought of making the kids read books, awaiting the first star!

    ReplyDelete