Listen up.

I cannot tell you how many times I have to repeat myself in a room full of 6th graders. Sometimes, I will be answering a specific question, as several students raise their hands to ask another. When I call on these students to present their question, it is the SAME question I just answered!!! There aren't any hearing problems in the 6th grade, just listening problems. When I go home, the problem is the same. "Avrien, can you grab the baby? I am cooking over here....Avrien? Avrien?!? AVRIEN!!!!!" OK, Avrien IS deaf in his right ear, and likes to refer to this as an advantage, rather than a disability. However, 'I couldn't hear you babe,' is only a good excuse the first 400 times. This is frustrating and hurtful to me, as I am not listened to all day.

I, wholeheartedly, admit that I stop listening if someone doesn't get to the point right away. However, I have a different reason...pure exhaustion. I could fall asleep on the toilet, and I have! If you don't get to the point, I start seeing the back of my eyelids. My mother recalled an incident, when she was a young mother. I was about 4 years old. We were driving home from somewhere, and I was talking. Imagine...me...talking. I was telling her all about something. I talked for 10 minutes straight, and when I noticed that she did not react to what I was saying, I asked her if she was listening.

"Mommy. Mommy. Mommy! Are you even listening to me?!?!?"

"Baby, I am sorry that I am not listening. I am just very tired," she said.

"Well," I said, "Do you want me to drive?"

Comic relief for my mom. I was confused then, but I understand her exhaustion now.

Even babies yearn for someone to listen to them. George babbles in his baby talk. He understands the concept of a conversation. If you do not respond, he babbles in a frustrated tone, and he even gets louder, as if to say 'LISTEN TO ME!!!'

Human beings are made to communicate with one another and to validate each other's feelings. Isn't this a central part of all relationships?

Somehow, between the television and the internet, we have managed to zone out and cut communication out of our daily lives. My brother told me that one of his co-workers sends him emails with questions or concerns, and he sits in the cubical five feet away from him. Where is this world headed?

These days, so many children are socially inept. They cannot interact appropriately because they don't know how! Parents allow TV and video games to be their child's only interaction. There are even attempts to inform parents and children of the possible consequences. Look at the movie, WALL-E, example. As Avrien and I sat there and watched it, I wondered if children received the message that was being communicated. Or did the clearly communicated message get lost in the movie theater?

The average American watches 4 hours of television a day. That is 28 hours a week, 2 months out of the year, and 9 years of a 65 year old's life.
I know when children sit in front of their TV or video games all day, because I see it in their interaction with others. I see it in their frustration level, especially when an assignment calls for communicative presentations.

Yesterday, Avrien and I took a walk around our neighborhood. Avrien fished in the lake, and George and I watched the sunset as we strolled home. It was relaxing and refreshing.

LISTEN TO ME.

Take a deep breath of fresh air. Get out of the house. Take a walk. Read a book. Talk with your family.

They call it the 'Boob Tube' for a reason. Don't be a boob.