Solitude.

[gerrerd]

When we lose the mind, we find ourselves.

[primrose81]

I totally agree but can be difficult to find moments of calm in society nowadays; it’s all rush rush rush and very often people mistake extreme “busyness” as a mark of success…our daughter is an experienced vet and mum to two young children. She “only” works part-time but I see her run herself ragged trying to do it all, particularly at the moment when her younger child keeps having nightmares and waking her up and of course only mummy will do…I was so lucky not having to work when the children were little; there was time for coffee mornings in friends’ houses, have other children from nursery or school back to our house for tea etc That doesn’t seem to happen very much nowadays which I think is a great shame. Often there are play-dates where our grandsons are concerned, always after school for about an hour or so and none involving a meal…the main advantage of that for my children was picking up on other children’s good table manners such as asking if they could “get down” i.e. leave the table after a meal and most of them carried their empty plate to me in the kitchen which always touched me greatly..