Puppy Dog Tails

I spent the 4th of July in downtown Midland. My girls played in the bungie jumper and my son entertained himself with a red and blue glow necklace, while two little boys caught my attention. They were 2 or 3 years old and could have been twins. One of the little boys was happy-go-lucky. He walked along holding his mother's hand like a little gentleman. The other little boy was mad. He would take two or three steps and plop himself down on the ground. Each time his mother would reach down and coax him back up. I am sure she was wishing for Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, but on a fit scale, his was only about a 5. The trio soon passed and I went back to listening to the music.

The mother and little boy returned about 15 minutes later. The little boy was still in fit mode. As he passed by he said, "but I want to stay" the mother responded "I told you we were going to the bathroom." He squealed "oh no not the bathroom!" From his reaction I could tell he knew they were not going to the bathroom to "potty!"

No doubt she had been talking but his selective hearing was engaged!

The phenomenon of selective hearing has always perplexed me. It precedes "having eyes in the back of your head" and the good thing about selective hearing it is passed on from generation to generation so all can experience it's joy!

I can tell my kids 15 times to clean their room and I get no response, then out of the blue they will clean their room. My kids say it is "my tone" that lets them know I mean it. I guess the little boy detected his mother's "tone."

Have you ever thought about the time, energy and effort you could save if you could get that "tone" right the first time?