Where the engine is off, the radio is silent, and nobody needs a snack.
There is a moment in motherhood no one prepares you for.
It’s not big.
It’s not dramatic.
It doesn’t come with candles or spa music.
It’s when you pull into a parking lot…
Turn off the engine…
And just sit.
Alone.
No one touching you.
No one calling your name.
No one asking for a tissue, a charger, or a life explanation.
Just you.
And the steering wheel.
And the quiet.
🚗 The parking lot pause
Today I arrived five minutes early.
Five.
I could have gone inside.
I could have been productive.
I could have answered texts.
Instead, I stayed in the car like I had discovered treasure.
I didn’t scroll.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t move.
I just sat there…
Not being needed.
Not solving problems.
Not breaking up arguments.
Not wiping anything.
It felt illegal.
At one point I sighed so deeply my whole body noticed.
This is what silence sounds like.
🫶 The kind of rest no one talks about
It’s not sleep.
It’s not a vacation.
It’s the rest of:
Not being climbed on
Not being responsible for anyone’s emotions
Not having to respond immediately
Not being the center of the small universe
It’s quiet that reaches your bones.
It’s five minutes that feels like a reset button.
It’s remembering that you exist as a person…
Not just a provider of snacks and solutions.
💛 What motherhood teaches in parked cars
I’m learning that rest doesn’t always come in big packages.
Sometimes it comes in:
A locked door
A turned-off engine
A deep breath you didn’t realize you were holding
A moment where nobody needs anything
And somehow… that’s enough to keep going.
Some days I use those minutes to cry.
Some days to pray.
Some days to stare at absolutely nothing.
All of them count.
🏡 The quiet truth no one posts
Motherhood is loud.
It echoes in every room of your life.
So when silence finds you —
In a driveway…
In a school parking lot…
In front of a grocery store…
You don’t rush it.
You sit.
You breathe.
You remember yourself.
And then you open the door…
Step back into the noise…
And become everything again.
Not because you’re empty.
But because you rested… just enough.
Love,
Rochel
A mother of 4 of the cutest children. I have seen the ups and downs in motherhood. Subscribe to this newsletter to hear my raw and honest thoughts on the joys and chaos of motherhood.
