I am almost positive the kids never hear a thing I say. Well, that’s not actually true, but they do seem to have that very selective hearing loss that’s so common in so many kids. It might not actually be a loss of hearing though, it’s more of a selective response to the statement. What I really believe is that they file stuff away somewhere just to pull it out and throw it back at us when they can.

I do know that several times a week I tell them, and their friends, to close the front door. I know that at least once every day I tell them to pick up their dirty clothes from the floor. Repeatedly, every hour or so, I need to tell them to turn down the volume on the TV. And yet, on their next trip outside the door is still left open. Every discarded item of clothing lands on the floor. The volume on the TV creeps up and up and up all over again.

The other day I asked TR to empty the dishwasher, and his response was “I don’t want too.” This led me to lecture him about being a part of the family, having responsibilities around the house, taking care of things that needed to be done, and sometimes having to do things you don’t want to do. He didn’t respond; just grumped his way through putting the dishes away. About a week later, he asked his Dad to get up and get him something to drink. Dad’s response was “I don’t want to.” So TR proceeded to give him the lecture about doing things you don’t want to do. The part about the responsibility and things that “need” to be done apparently got lost, or selectively edited out. But I suppose I should be glad he heard or internalized something.

The phenomena occurs with both of the kids. Just the other day in the car, I was explaining to TR about being polite and not interrupting. Right in the middle of this little talk, SW interrupted. I tried to point out the significance of this, how he had just interrupted my speech on interruptions. He said, “But Mom, the Baby’s asleep and you are going to wake her up!”

Yes, that’s definitely one I say a lot.