I heard the kettle boil and realised it was the only sound in the kitchen not asking anything from me

Dear Delyara, That thought came to me so clearly it actually made me stop. Everything else had a hook in it. The dishes wanted clearing. The lunchboxes needed sorting. The fruit needed washing. The floor needed sweeping. The phone needed checking. The children needed answers. Tomorrow needed preparing. The kettle was different. It just boiled. I stood there listening to that one contained sound and felt comforted by how simple it was. No hidden emotional work inside it. No social tone to interpret. No future consequence attached. I think when a woman has had too many hours of human complexity, predictability starts to feel deeply tender.