Noise

K= 2 y 7 m, R= 6 m

One of the most intolerable noises on earth is that of a baby crying – especially when it is your baby. The sound plays on some ancient instinct which makes us do anything to make it stop. It is always amazing how crying makes us react, stresses us, makes us do something, anything to make us stop.
There are other noises as well that make us react. When the phone rings – no matter what we are doing, we stop to answer. Whether we are in the shower, on our cell phones, in the middle of eating – we answer. We have been trained like Pavlov's dogs.
Today we were coming home from our playgroup. K fell asleep. R did not. We drove down our street only to find someone had parked in front of the entrance to our parking space. I parked in front of the entrance to our yard. Took R out of her car seat. Collected the diaper bag and other stuff from the car, opened the gate and went into our yard on the way into our house. Jimmy greeted us, piddling with excitement. Put R on the floor, grabbed Jimmy, closed the door to go get K out of the car. As I closed the door, I heard R express her rage at being left stranded on the floor in the living room by herself. Noise number 1.
I opened the gate to our yard to find a big white cat standing on the other side of the road. I prayed that our puppy had some survival instincts and would not either get hit by a car or attacked by the scary cat (he had neither). I took K out of the car just as Jimmy was attacked by the cat (luckily for him we live on a slow street). Jimmy started screaming the way only a hurt puppy can cry. K woke up to ask what was wrong with Jimmy. I slammed the car door, cursing under my breath that now there would be no afternoon nap, locked the car and ran after the dog to see if he still had both his eyes. I can hear the whimpering of Jimmy mixing with the screaming of R. Then I hear my car alarm start to go off. Damn, I guess I didn't close one of the doors. I open the door to our home to find R red and snotty on the floor, enraged. K is wide awake. Jimmy appears to be ok. Then the phone starts ringing. I put down K to answer the phone which was not the smartest move. K joins R in a duet of screams. Wrong number. The car alarm is still ringing in the background. I put down K, grab R and run outside. I turn off the car alarm. Come back inside, pass the puppy who is definitely OK. I grab K and drag her to the sofa. R is quiet. K is quiet. No alarm. No dog. No phone. Quiet.
For a couple of seconds at least.