Recently, I met a friend for the weekend. She drove south, and I drove north. We enjoyed staying in a hotel, surrounded by silence. Of course to my friend and I, silence means there are no kids bickering with each other, no gripes about what was made for dinner, and no whines when bedtime is announced. Our silence may have been broken by the television or our own dialogue, but we had control of the volume, the intensity, and the on/off button. Parental paradise.

While together, my friend and I enjoyed eating dinner out at a restaurant. You know – a restaurant. A restaurant is a place where one can order food to eat without having to make it. Even better, a restaurant is a place where they bring the food to your table, and they clean up the mess when you are finished eating. It is amazing! (I don’t get out much.) Read more