Peace and Quiet??? You've got to be kidding!!!

Aaron was on the phone yesterday and made a comment to Nikki (his girlfriend) in response to her "what's all that noise?" that it's never quiet in our house. That got me thinking....and he's right. If peace and quiet is what you need to live a fulfilling life, then our house is not the place to be!
There is always a conversation happening...a bird screeching....a dog barking...another dog howling....a person with Alzheimers singing loudly at 2.00 am...people calling out to each other ( heaven forbid we use the intercom!)...
We are a family of strong opinions who do not believe in sugar-coating anything. We can be very diplomatic with those outside our home, but brutal honesty has always been our way. This can sometimes lead to what I call "discussions". These discussions can be a bit loud, but never ever malicious. Simple things like whether to move a computer into the basement to make way for the new tv that Azam bought can lead to heated discourse. I think that we surprised Nikki that day, because everyone has an opinion and everyone voices it. Or Ansaar harassing Azam when he came home from work with Azam getting to the point where I thought that he would either explode or cry or both! Or me, yelling to get the dogs out of the way when I was cleaning, and being told that yelling never accomplished anything, unless it made me feel better...which I have to admit..it did make me feel better! Or my husband being a total .......(fill in with whatever you want) all because he was not feeling well- allergies acting up. The joys of living in a houseful of Alpha beings! Regardless, we all love each other and will do anything for each other (eg sharing our home with dogs when some of us really would have preferred not to). Issues are resolved, not left to simmer and worsen, or left in the hope that by ignoring it, it will resolve itself or disappear. There is a lot of love in the house, just not the blindly obedient kind of love that I grew up with. Respect and love is earned. We see each others' flaws, but can make allowances and still accept each other for who we are.
Of course this has seemed to dictate the type of pets that have ended up co-existing with us. Except for the fish, Lola (the parrot) and Kiko and Lyra (the dogs) are also all alpha personalities. Luckily Lyra is still a puppy, so she still wants to please everyone, but I can already see her expressing her individuality. It seems strange, but Lola is the more dominant one of the three - perhaps because she was there first? Maybe because she is more of a being that dispenses her affections very selectively (mostly to Azam and Ansaar)?
Come to think of it no wonder my Mom likes when we are all at work(the doggies go to work with us) or at school....she ends up with a bit of peace and quiet....now if only she could figure out how to get the bird and my Dad to both be quiet!!!