Hello?! Do You Need Your Listening Ears On?

As a parent, I find myself repeating instructions, directions, suggestions, questions, and just about anything that comes out of my mouth all day long.  It’s very frustrating, specially at the end of the day when everyone is tired.

My friend Christy showed me an app on her Iphone called Tomcat that repeats everything one says! Wow, wouldn’t that be handy?  You talk to the phone and this cute little cat repeats exactly what you just said. The kids thought it was really cute and wanted it on my phone.  Ooooooh no. Why won’t they listen to ME but listen to a talking cat on the phone?

I find that with motherhood I’ve developed my ability to “tune out” cries, whines, begging requests (mostly the whiny ones), and even the thirteenth “mommmmmm” from my son who is waiting for me to say “yes?”  This leaves me wondering… are our kids also able to tune us out?

Last year, my son made “listening ears” at school.  They had a whole talk about good manners and how important it is to listen to our parents.  For a while, when I found myself repeating everything I was trying to tell my kids, instead of growing frustrated I just pulled these ears out and had my kid put them on.  Then, I would get down to their eye level and say: “Now that you have your BIG listening ears on, I am sure you will hear mommy better.  Can you hear me now? (yess) Oh, GOOD!! So, I really need you to….”

Thank you Stephanie for modeling the ears since my kids

refused to put them on for the picture

The listening ears sit above our fridge and now and then I pull them out and just ask “Do you need your listening ears on? Because apparently you are not understanding what mommy is trying to tell you…”  And sometimes, they still let me put them on… but mostly they fight each other for who gets to wear them! Unbelievable.

I am tired of repeating myself on silly stuff like “Alex, can you please pick up your cars?” or, “Sofia, can you please eat your dinner?”  And the list goes on and on.  During the day, it’s not as frustrating because I am energized and still filled with positive attitude; but at nighttime, that is a whole other story. Kids are tired from a long day of “listening” to other people… and their listen-o-meter is full.

Anyone else here with me?  Do you have any suggestions that work for you and your kids? Feel free to share in the comments. Thanks!