Loudmouths

2 stories:

1. About a month ago, I was taking a babysitter home and asked her a few questions about school and life and stuff. She is a really nice girl and very responsible. She is also on the quieter, more reserved side. In this conversation, she told me that she has much better friends now than when she was in Middle School. Her old friends used to ignore the things she would say or talk over her when she would begin a story. Being nosy, I discovered that these were friends from church. I reflected that it is likely I was probably much like these friends as a youth, oblivious to doing it, but guilty of the action just the same.

2. On Monday we had a few friends over to play. One of whom is not a regular visitor, but as it is Swine Break, her grandpa across the street was babysitting her for the day, and she joined the handful of little girls (and one boy) forming the Detective Agency in the backyard. They seemed to be playing well together, but then Brianna came in with a complaint to register about my daughters. At that point, it was time for friends to go home anyway, since we were off to another activity, so I apologized for them and decided to delve into the matter on our drive.

Me: "Felicity and Katrina, Brianna said you weren't listening to her whenever she had things to say. What happened?"

F: "Ahh, she was too quiet. So we had to speak over her."

K: "Yeah, she has a soft voice. Nobody could hear what she was saying and so I had to be louder."

I then proceeded to define "Outspoken" and stated that every person in our family fits that description. So it is our job to watch out for people who are perhaps less outspoken, to make sure they have opportunities to speak and give them a chance once they do. Mrs. Pot teaching her little Kettles.

Even now, I have a hard time not finishing someone's sentences when he seems to be having a hard time coming up with the words. I don't mean to be rude, I'm just engaging in the conversation and helping it along. Being wordy, sometimes my stories (and blog posts) are a tad heavy on the details, which doesn't always allow time for others. Apologies to any I've offended. I do think it's kind of amusing that everyone in my house has a voice and definitely knows how to use it to communicate. While others teach their children to speak more, we're working on speaking less, listening more.