Quiet.

It is strange to be around all our other friends because now they have two kids under the age of three.
Apparently, after you have more than one it "gets really hard"......and no, I don't need anyone to reiterate this comment for the hundredth time, while I try and silence the inevitable launch of snarky and bitter comments which ensue inside my head. Luckily, I am able to contain them and keep them there, while remaining civilized.

There must be some element of truth though, because as we were eating dinner at a local pizzeria with friends, I felt like on their side of the table, was mass chaos and on ours, for the most part, there was calmness and order (well, at least when you have them side by side)

We are the only ones who didn't jump into the raging, crowded, noisy, choatic, yet seemingly full of merriment pool in the heat of the summer....
We are left standing on the diving board.
We tried to jump...but didn't
The quietness of the open air on the board is stunning.

Edited to add: I guess it's not that I "silence myself" but that the snarky comments don't come. I almost miss them as evidence to a passion for reminding people that their bubbles are not indestructible. But somehow, I guess I don't really silence the comments at all, but silence the desire for the comments to come. I guess this makes no sense at all but after re-reading and thinking about the night, I don't know why I put that I was trying to silence them. It was only after, when writing the original post that I thought to include this detail. As if it was somehow "missing" from my recount of the event.....strange.