Turn Those Ears On!

As the mother of three children, I repeat myself a great deal. Unwillingly, let me just say. I tell the kids to stop arguing and stay out of each other's personal space and pick up their dirty socks and FOR PETE'S SAKE PUT THE EMPTY YOGURT CUP IN THE TRASH NOT ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER RIGHT ABOVE THE TRASH CAN what feels like every day of my life and the proverbial twice on Sundays. Perhaps something will sink in some day, but most of the time the prospects of that seem doubtful at best. I sure get tired of hearing myself say the same things over and over.

Every year, the pediatrician checks the kids' hearing at their annual checkups. Every year he tells me that all three hear just fine. He once commented wryly that hearing and listening are completely different skills and that modern medicine only addresses one of the two.

A damn shame, I tell you.

"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear."
Pooh's Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne