Communication

When the kids were away for a week I did miss them and their quirky ways. For a whole week it was just me and my wife which has not happened for at least 9 years. Sadly we are virtual strangers and with the common interest gone and my restricted life there was not a lot left so it was long and it was empty.

One tale though did make me smile about the girls. The oldest is very artistic. Always drawing or writing. She was out in the garden drawing flowers for a good bit and when she finally became board went to go indoors. The doors were shut over though and she could not get in. There is of course a bell but my children would not think to use that. No, instead she wrote a note that she was trapped outside. She then walked around the house and found an open window and posted the message through then returned to drawing in the garden. After a while when no one came to get her she returned back to the house and went to the window. Behind the glass was her younger sister standing- who had obviously found the note. She was holding a big sheet of paper up to the window with the words written: I AM BUSY. The younger one then went back to watching TV leaving the oldest to find another way in. All the time their grandparents were sitting in the front room oblivious to this.

It reminds me of another time with the oldest. They like a bit of drama. I got up one Saturday and after giving them breakfast she asked me if I could let her know if I heard her mum getting up, to which I agreed to do. I didn't give it any more thought. When I heard my wife get up I didn't have to tell her because she heard. She went over to where my wife sits leaving a piece of paper, opened the door to the stairs (leading out of our home) and shut the door behind her. I could here her walking down the stairs. When my wife got up and saw the paper she sat down, read it and started laughing. I wish I had kept it as from memory I cannot do it justice. Basically the oldest was sorry for being bad of late so had decided to leave to be on her own. But if my wife ever wanted her to come back into the family then she could be found at the bottom of the stairs. Nothing like a sense of drama.

I give these examples because they amuse me at least but also because it irks me a little. This kind of communication without speaking takes me back to my wife. That week alone together we hardly spoke at all. In fact on our 9th Wedding anniversary sitting in the same room she wished me a happy wedding anniversary via a Facebook PM. And that was only after wishing a guy from work happy birthday.

There is a complete lack of communication between us. Not just between us but I think generally more in the world. If I ask my wife whether one of her friends has agreed to something, for example, she will say she hasn't had a text back yet or she got a text to confirm it.

I go out for walks and so many people walking mindlessly alone with headphones on. I bought a paper from the shop and the few things I said fell on deaf ears with no reply.

And another annoyance. The wife does it and the kids do it. I say something and don't get a reply. It annoys me and then they say they are doing it as if I should not wait for an answer but wait to see what their actions are. It annoys the hell out of me.

Silence doesn't bother me. In fact I life silence. But there never is silence despite the lack of communication. There has got to be a TV on even if no ones watching it so that there is no silence and I look around the room with the oldest writing away, the younger girl on the computer, the boy staring at the 3DS and my wife texting or Facebooking on her phone. All in the same room but all in seperate worlds. And that includes myself sitting here typing this. It is only when I take a minute out to look about that I am taken out of my little world for a moment before I again dive back in.