The laundry is done, kids are in bed and I just settle in for some computer time in front of the television. Then it happens…
ME: Do you hear that? Is that crying?
HUBBY: Huh?
What was I thinking asking my husband that question? I discovered early on that motherhood brings with it special gifts, such as a super hearing. Some dads on the other hand seem to get wax build-up.
It happens all the time. I’m in bed, sound asleep, or as sound asleep as any mom can be, when I hear whispering at the bedroom door. My oldest daughter needs to go to the bathroom. This always astounds me: my daughter can walk down a dark hallway from her room past the bathroom but she can’t go into the bathroom on her own at night. At no immediate response from us, she moves closer, practically standing right beside my husband’s head. I foolishly thought sleeping on the other side of the bed, the side away from the door, would mean the kids would go to their dad first for nighttime assistance. I did say foolishly. I’m laying there in the dark wide-awake now waiting for my husband to jump out of bed and help, but no, it’s me again. He continues to snore away.
And it’s not just at night. I could be in the basement and my kids will be in the playroom three floors up, fighting over who built the biggest LEGO tower. I love Lego, but sometimes it can be the cause of more fights). Did I fail to mention my husband is in the family room, the room right beside the playroom, right beside the war zone? When I make it up the three flights of stairs to sort things out, I see my husband sitting listening to music, earphones on.
This talent doesn’t just work in the house or with things only your kids say. What about when you’re out in the playground. Somehow I can hear, from across all the screaming, laughing, running kids, a comment another mom is making about my children. I can hear the words drifting out of another mother’s mouth as if she’s standing right beside me, even clearer if the comment has a negative tone.
I guess there are benefits to having this gift, this super-human ability to hear what your kids say or others say about them, I just haven’t figured out what that is yet. If you know, please share.