It took me a while to get back to the blog writing.
Part of it was I had to go through a ton of pictures and write this behemoth. It probably over 4 hours with uploading, sorting, writing, going "Wasn't there a picture of...," finding the picture, and then finishing writing. It's much easier to write the shorter posts where I can see my vision and pull it off in one sitting.
The other part was Shane. He likes to sit next to me and talk.
And talk.
And talk some more.
I've tried to coach him on asking people questions, pausing to give people time to speak, and listening when they do so, but that's still a work in progress.
I feel bad when I tune him out, but maybe I shouldn't. He doesn't seem to notice or care as long as there's a warm body near by. I could probably be deaf and he wouldn't stop talking.
So one time I was sitting on the couch trying to read and Shane plopped down next to me. He started to talk and I listened at first. When it was clear he wasn't going to stop I phased him out. I've set a timer before to see how long he'd talk, but I had a new idea this time: "What if I recorded him?"
So I did.
Keep in mind that I didn't have a recording app on my phone. I got the idea, downloaded, and ran the app while Shane was talking. As part of the experiment, I then sat stone-faced and as still as possible to see how long he'd talk if I didn't give any feedback.
I did say something between the 3 and 4 minute marks, but otherwise the file is nearly 8 minutes of Shane.
Yup. That's my boy.
I like that he's using his imagination and keeping his mind active, but there are times I just want quiet to read a book or write a post! I'm sure he gets the talking and the imagining from my side of things.
After all, writing is basically a more methodical (but quiet!) thought dump.
NOTE: Shane is sitting next to me at the table and humming songs from from The Messenger game really loudly as I write this. I'd tell him to knock it off, but it's proving my point with every keystroke! I'll try to address it more when he's older. Until my patience runs out, I'd like him to feel loved and valued.
Poor Shane, poor Mike and Carrie. I drove my dad crazy talking too much, also. And it hurt my feelings when he called me diarrhea mouth. Teachers complained about my incessant talking on report cards and gave me bad conduct grades. So Shane gets this from me. I still get my feelings hurt when Dad points out that I need to listen more. it's so hard to listen more and so easy to talk too much. Good luck! Be careful that he feels loved. I have no answers or wisdom to share on this. It's a common battle. We love you 3!
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