The Miracle of Sound Proof Glass

By: Beth Duncan

The addition of a free-standing Chick-fil-a has been a much needed addition to my community. Yes, the food is great and the service is nearly perfect too. But the selling point for me is the sound proof glass.

If you have to ask what sound proof glass I am talking about, you probably don’t have small children.

Oh, we do enjoy the meal together—that is, when the kids don’t fight about who touched whose chicken or who drank out of whose cup. We tend to be an overly germ conscious family—my husband had a very good professor for microbiology and has not forgotten anything he learned. Nor does he let us forget what he has learned.

So, if one kid touches the other’s chicken or, heaven forbid, drinks out of another kid’s drink, things can get a little loud at our table. I don’t like to be noticed; I’ve always like to blend, but blending is nearly impossible with four kids.

After a stressful meal, we get to sit back and relax. That’s right; we can actually relax thanks to the miracle of sound proof glass. The kids think we are giving them such a big treat by letting them play in the playroom after they eat. What they don’t know is that they are giving us a treat by going into the playroom.

My husband and I get our Cokes refilled and sit back and watch. We can see their little mouths moving, but no sounds reach our ears. How wonderful! Sometimes we even see mad looks on their little faces to go with their moving mouths. Still we hear nothing. Eventually the mad looks go away on their own! How miraculous.

We can now talk about adult topics...or about the children, which is what we usually end up doing.

This sound proof glass phenomenon has prompted some conversations between my husband and me on trips. Four small children competing for air time in a van can be quite noisy. There are times when all I can think of is quiet—it can be difficult to drive over the noise.

So, we dream of a magic button, and we even pretend to push it sometimes. What this button would do is raise a piece of sound proof glass behind the front seats, like something you’d see in a police car. The little convicts would be back there, talking their little hearts out and we’d be riding along in peace.

Of course, the kids would have a button they could push in case of an emergency. I don’t want to sound negligent or unappreciative. Kid conversation can be fun at times, especially when they are in good moods and can respect each other’s air time somewhat. But, let’s admit it, silence can be golden, and as parents we need piles of gold sometimes to make it through.