Gen Leung Piano Studio, Oakville Ontario

We've had some renovations happening in our house lately, so it's been busier than usual. But what has gotten me thinking is all the noise that is happening. Anyone who has gone through renovations, knows exactly what I'm talking about: hammering, banging and the occasional crashing. And with an infant who loves his sleep, I was more than concerned that sleep would be something that none of us would get for awhile.

I should make one thing clear, when I was pregnant; I read a book that was about having your second child first... so meaning things that second time parents wish they had done the first time around. The thing that stuck with me after reading that book was that second babies know how to sleep through their older siblings noise. So when Ellis was born, we kept the house with our usual busy action and Ellis slept "like a baby". But then once I started sleep training, we started to quiet things down... no real reason why, we just did. I think that the hype of being quiet around a sleeping baby was getting to me and I had forgotten what I learned from the book. 

Now that Ellis has been sleeping so well for such a long time, we've gotten used to being quiet during certain times of the day. So when we decided to start renovations, I was just very worried that Ellis wouldn't be getting the rest that he so desperately needs. 

As I'm typing this, there's clanging, banging, hammering and loud voices happening all around. Of course the guys doing the work are incredible considerate and they've closed doors to block out as much sound as possible, but it's still loud. And then there's my little boy. He's fast asleep in his crib, sucking his thumb, completely unaware of all that's going on. 

So it got me wondering, if a baby is able to sleep through the noise in his home setting (I'm sure all parents know that babies will sleep almost anywhere in their carseats while out with their parents), do we all really need those quiet places to rest our heads? Being a second child myself, I've always been able to sleep through almost anything (but becoming a mother has gotten me used to waking to the slightest noise now) but Andy who is an only child, needs the silence to sleep. 

Don't get me wrong, I love being in a quiet room and just enjoying the peace and quiet I can get. But I think a lot can be learned from my little guy: just go with the flow