An Ode to the Nearly Perfect Day - Discovering the Empty Nest

Something was always slightly wrong, but perhaps perfection is overrated anyway.

We got up in the morning like any other.

I came downstairs, Bo put the kettle on, and we sat at the table to drink our morning tea. Ran the water in the sink to wash the pots, I have this terrible habit of leaving them until the next morning; by the time we have finished dinner and I have done a million other things, I just can’t be bothered. So I don’t. I washed the pots, went upstairs to get dressed, tidied the bedroom, nothing out of the ordinary.

Then it hit us.

The house was quiet.

Peaceful, in fact.

A lone tree stands against the horizon as ominous storm clouds gather, casting a dramatic contrast against the serene, peaceful evening sky.

Who knew we could have a peaceful Sunday morning? The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the dog was lazing about, Bo and I were smiling, and it was just a beautiful day.

I can’t remember the last time, if ever, we have had a Sunday morning like this. It was surreal. It was like living someone else’s life, an alternate reality.

We didn’t do anything special that Sunday, although it was as if we had been reborn. I lazily pottered about cleaning up, which I like doing in the morning; Bo cleaned the floors, the music was on, we were laughing, it was wonderful.

After we had done the usual Sunday morning jobs, Bo started his painting; he has just started to paint the Warhammer models as a bit of a hobby and I went on the computer to write and attempt to learn how to advertise. We were having a glorious day.

Oh, how the other half live.

Realisation Came Crashing Through the Door

In walks Ziaza with babes on her hip like a whirlwind with verbal diarrhoea. She dumps her changing bag on the kitchen side whilst she goes to raid the toy box. She puts babes on the floor with his favourite toys by our feet whilst she makes his dinner, all the while continuously telling us about her day. His Toniebox singing away whilst he plays with his baby piano, drowning out Alexa’s country classics.

Bo and I just stare at one another.

His dinner is made, the high chair comes out, and we are contemplating if she is going to breathe between sentences. I put the computer away so I can feed babes whilst she takes her washing up and put her clothes away and I wonder. What just happened?

Bo finishes his model and clears his paints.

A powerful tornado looms under dark storm clouds, poised to unleash devastation across the landscape.

The Emotional Devastation Hits

I clean the babes up after his dinner, put the high chair away and go through to the kitchen to start cooking our dinner. I look around, and it looks like the Tasmanian devil has struck. There is bags on the kitchen sides, mash yet to be cleaned up that fell from the pan during mashing, toys strewn around the living room and the babes playing with his toys in the dining room. How? He hasn’t even been in the living room. Ziaza’s smiling face appears around the door,

“So how was your day?”

Bo and I look at one another, smile and at the same time reply, “Really peaceful.”

Who knew one and a half people could cause such destruction? Within minutes of them both entering the house chaos erupted. Now I know a baby can cause mayhem and life is different after they are born, but do you know what, it never changed that much. We never realised what we were missing until today and as wrong as it may be, we are missing it. The peace. The calm. The relaxing atmosphere that comes from your adult kids being out. The harmony between us that we never knew was a thing, our bubble, burst, gone in an instant as soon as the door creaked open.

Finding Our Way Back to the Quietude of Life and an Empty Nest

A tranquil forest path invites solace and reflection, offering a serene journey towards finding peace once more.

How do we get this back?

Our beautiful Sunday day, the peaceful, unchaotic, normal boring day, that just worked. It was bliss, nothing exciting happened, we were just us, two people living our best life enjoying one another’s company.

How do we reduce our household chaos?

The only suggestion that we could come up with when we escaped to walk the dog was kick them out.

That isn’t an option, and we don’t want to do that…

Or do we?

We had a taste of the other side.

And do you know what…

We liked it.

Am I wrong?

Is perfection overrated?