It must be a badge of honor for a parent to be told “You never listen”.
I seem to remember using those words at some point in my teenage years. And as my oldest two move into their teens, the infamous words appear again in our house.
It’s frustrating for both sides. “What specifically am I missing?” I’ll ask. “I don’t know” shrugs the teen.
This week, the complaints have been centered on too many chores… because dishes and folding laundry are so hard. When you add a houseful of summer noises, complaining becomes another background sound.
And it got me thinking: Do I actively tune out some things and create a “not listening” attitude to compensate?
If we widen the scale, I wonder if Heavenly Father is sitting there thinking, “You pray to me constantly, but you never pause and listen to my answers”?
We are always telling our kids that prayer requires listening as much as speaking. But honestly, I am just as guilty of not listening sometimes too!
I don’t know about you, but intentionally slowing down is difficult. In fact, we even wrote about creating a slower life.
Part of slowing down comes with listening. Zipping the lips, calming the mind, and truly listening to the world and people around us.
Summer break gives our kids time to unwind and even time to snack on a few homemade cookies. But are we intentionally recharging our listening ears?
Instead of wondering why no one ever listens to us, maybe it’s time to turn the tables. To close our mouths and listen to what others are telling us. Most importantly, hearing what our Heavenly Father is saying.
Our kids need us to listen just as much as we want them to hear us. If we can figure that out, maybe we can all enjoy the cookies together.