I’m ok with my own company. Growing up on a farm, I spent hours on a tractor, whether it was topping thistles or levelling after the plough.
My Walkman was brilliant – for about the first hour as the batteries always seem to run out. With no back-up batteries, there was a lot of time to sit in your own head… particularly as the only song I could seem to remember was Eurythmics’ Missionary Man, and really there’s only so many times you can sing that.
As I left the farm behind, time by myself morphed into running (though definitely not for the same amount of time!).
However, my husband has taken the kids to New Zealand to visit my side of the family, and so I have five weeks in the UK by myself.
I realised it’s the longest I have lived on my own. Whether it was flatting or solo travelling, there was usually someone around. And, of course, kids come with their own special frequency that seems to be both constant and cut through any background noise.
Now, there’s silence.
I hadn’t realised how loud it can be.
Although, funnily enough, I now seem to have my daughter’s voice in my head telling me to tidy up after myself. She prefers order to my chaos and just-in-timeness. I’ve even been refiling the spices in alphabetical order…
I wonder what she’s hearing from me…?
Tough Mother 