Why is it that when you talk to children, you have to repeat what you say to them two million times? Mind you it’s only on select topics. If I say, “Sweetie, time to go to bed”, suddenly something becomes very interesting under the dining table. Or they don’t hear me, though I’m sitting right next to them. If I call them for some perceived mundane task, by the time they actually respond to me, I get “I didn’t hear you”. But they were just in the next room. Yet I know they have perfectly good hearing. They’ve been checked out.
This selective hearing becomes evident when my next conversation goes something like this:
Mom(In my normal voice): “Sweetie come and get a piece of cake!” (Mind you I could be at home)
Child(running like the wind): “Coming Mom!” (The child could be coming from three blocks away from home, at a friend’s house playing in the basement with the door closed and the stereo blaring. And I’m not using the phone, text or other form of modern communication device!)
Go figure. Children hear what they want. I once stood in front of one of my children and said, “Come here”. I wanted my child to move closer to me so that I could reprimand them for some misdeed. The lovely child smiled innocently and did not budge.
I recalled an episode of the Cosby Show, where Bill said “come here, come here, come HERE!!” That was me. I’m sternly and loudly saying “come HERE!!!” and the child is just looking at me innocently with big curious eyes as if to say “What are saying Mother?”
You would think I’d switch my tactics to tell them to come get cake when I really want them to do a chore. But these little people are sharp as tacks. They’ll catch on after one attempt. I need to get more sophisticated. I’m usually good about being ahead of them and their little games. Come on now! I invented most of the tricks they try to pull. Hmm…Any suggestions are welcome. I’m thinking bullhorn. LOL!
Psalm 127 verse 3 says “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” As I constantly repeat myself and talk loud, I am truly blessed. I thank God everyday for my little darlings. It’s all worth it. And someday, they may actually answer me on the first call or do what I say the first time I say it. Hmm…..LOL!!!
1 comment:
LOL. Hilarious . . .
Even though it's a bit the opposite, I think I've been around you guys quite a lot to know which one of your kids might do that.
Because your description is so on point- I am tempted to guess who that smile belongs to! I can just see the child's eyes making deliberate contact with yours.
But you just gotta love it. On one hand, the look says, "OK, how long can I keep this up before she leaps over here and tries to smack the living daylights out of me?" On the other hand, it's saying, "Maybe if I stare long enough, the phone will ring and she'll forget what she called me for. Even if just for a moment!"
I think that's what makes them (yours and children in general) so endearing. You get an instant awareness of your own mischief at that age and almost want to laugh out loud, like "This kid is pulling the exact same tactics I tried at that age."
Maybe calling them in one of those sweet mother-can-do-me-no-harm voices might do the trick. Just be sure to vary it every time. Their natural curiosity just might get the best of them and they'll come running, thinking Mom just got a Happy Meal from McD's. But by the time they get there, it'll be too late and they'll discover Mom tricked them into getting totally absorbed in something else altogether.
Hopefully, they're not reading this blog right now and studying your strategies (lol).
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