Can we all agree that there is a point at which we can stop pretending to be interested in every little thing that our children want to show or tell us?
Yesterday, in a moment of exhaustion, I told my 12 year old that "Now is NOT the time to show me your K'Nex crossbow's many stages of production. I love that you're excited about building it and I think it's great that you are finding new ways to make it stronger, but I'm busy and I don't want to look at it a gazillion times this afternoon."
That may not be a direct quote. But I'm pretty I said the word "gazillion."
Just now my youngest walked into the kitchen while my hands were busily scrubbing away food crud from the day. "Mom, I got to level 16 and I've only been playing for 45 minutes. And on Super Mario Something-Bros I got mumbling and more mumbling with random numbers that don't mean anything."
When I realized that he was, in fact, speaking English, and that he expected me to respond in kind, I stopped him short. "Are you talking about video games?"
"Yuh."
" I don't want to hear about video games right now."
"Oh. Okay." And he was gone.
(To be clear, I love my kids, spend every waking moment with them, and never really thought about this until I started homeschooling. I may be going slightly insane, but it's worth it to see how my kids are changing as a result of all this time together.)
How do we find the line, draw the line, and stay on the sane side of the line that determines what we need to listen to and be interested in?
So much yes.
ReplyDeleteOk, here's one thing. I find it desperately sad that you felt compelled to apologize at the end or just even to explain your love for your kids. You can love them and listen to them talk about all kinds of things yet still get tired of hearing the same things over and over.
Also, your children still know you love them and still know you will listen to important things even if you create boundaries which encourage your children to respect your need for space.
We may have discovered a slight soap box for Dawn. :-)
Yes, it is slightly sad, but after reading comments on other blogs, I feel it's best to cover my bases. ;-)
Delete