Communication

It seems time is going by faster now days and I catch myself in moments with my children that endear my heart. I'm a very sociable person and so therefore talking comes easy for me. This isn't always the best mode of communication since to be good at communicating one has to be a good listener. Is this really accurate?
Maybe I should rephrase my statement to say that to be good at communicating one has to pay equal attention to the other person.

I remember the days when I didn't have any children. Thoughts would go through my mind about parents I knew with little ones and how they interacted with the children on a day to day basis. I have found some parents don't interact a lot with their children. You can't be too hard though. Raising children doesn't come with a manual that says, "Take the time to talk to your children, specially while they're young. If you do, not only will you help their vocabulary, but you'll develop an intimate relationship."

So we have conversations around here. Some are short, others are about subjects that they wouldn't ask a stranger. Some are while I'm laying on my back on the floor keeping my 4yr. old company while we wait for I don't remember what...we wait for a lot of things around here.

"Did you know people put earrings in their belly, and sometimes on their lips?"
4yr. looks at me in shock and disbelieve.
"They really do?"
"Yes, and even on their noses and sometimes in their tongue!"
She looks at my earlobes.
"Did it hurt when they put a hole in your ear Mommy?"
I proceed to explain to her how they numbed it with ice when I was about her age, and then stuck a fiery red needle into it. You can kind of tell that I'm partial to not marring the body, can't you?
"I think it hurt, I can't remember now. But if you think about it, I would say that it hurt."
I'm watching her at this moment and in my heart I'm kind of amused at her innocence. She's really thinking in her mind about whether this kind of vanity is worth the pain. I think the conversation ended shortly after that. It was brief but one on one.

I want them to ask me questions. If I don't know the answer, then I'll tell them so. I want them to come to me and tell me that they've started hearing the birds singing. That they can draw a little person on the chalkboard now. That they absolutely love P.E class, or that they had a terrible day.

Listening and paying attention go hand in hand. I say this now because we've been learning a little about sign language from some DVDs called Signing Time! that we checked out from the library. These are great DVDs. My kids have retained so many words already. But I've noticed we have to pay attention to each other to enjoy this new way of communicating. It's reconfirmed within my mind the importance of our little conversations.