Do you know that time at night, just after you turn the light off and you are lying in bed?
That ten minutes just before sleep overcomes me, I go through my day. I take stock of all the things that have happened during the day; encounters with different ones; conversations with people; things that I accomplished and things that I didn't...
My plans for the next day; what is on my 'to do' list; what is urgent and what can wait. Things that are happening at school the next day - am I doing the home reading books for the kids? Do I have to sign anything? Pay anything? See anyone? Have the kids done their homework? Are their clothes all ready for the morning?
I choose this time because it is the only quiet time in my day. This may sound completely insane, but this is the only time that I can actually stop and hear my own thoughts. With four kids, two of them boys, who like to talk loudly, and like things loud, in a house with wooden floorboards upstairs and tiles downstairs, you would not believe the noise level sometimes.
I listen to the night sounds. The squabble of bats, the sweet, soft, songs of the night birds, the hum of an occasional car, the monotonous dial tone of the cane toads, as they all go about their nightly business. I can relax. Knowing that my four little sweethearts are all safely tucked up in their beds and sleeping soundly.
I can then drift off to sleep. Safe in the knowledge that all is right with my world. The rest of the world can wait until tomorrow.
Melanie