The Skill of Listening

Did you hear what I just said?

Toddlers tell the truth


Last night, I was babysitting my granddaughter and she was ready for bed. How did I know? It’s easy. When she gets tired she starts running through the house like a wild hyena. Then she starts crying out, “Night night” plaintively and asking for BA (her pacifier). She wanted to go to bed and I wanted to provide what she needed for her health. But first she needed her diaper changed and her pj’s put on.


If I had stuck BA in her mouth and laid her in her crib fully clothed in her tutu she would have thanked me by going peacefully to sleep. She is awesome like that. But because I put her on her changing table, we had an epic failure to communicate. She did not feel heard by me. So instead of sweet baby blissfully falling to sleep, I got a yelling, scratching, biting baby. She did not hear me telling her we were getting ready for bed; she did not believe that I heard her telling me that she wanted to go to bed. We were shooting for the same goal, but our communication wires were crossed.


Honestly, I wish all of us were so clear about our frustrations with one another. It would make things so much easier!! But we are not. We have delayed responses to issues. We are oblique in our responses. We are passive in our aggressions. No wonder we have so much trouble feeling loved and accepted!


For people of faith, and of virtually every faith persuasion, there is a clarion call to love one another. Why is it so hard and confusing to respond to that challenge?


Tomorrow, we will start unpacking the problem of listening so that we can seek a solution.