When I was growing up, I often listened as my mom walked around talking to herself. I was always interested to hear how pissed off she was at life in general. I never thought anything about it. But then I started talking to myself, but then I wasn't listened to either. I was deemed too stupid to matter. So I talked to myself.
Now I see all these jokes about women talking to themselves and today I realized that the reason we talk to ourselves is that we aren't being listened to when we talk. We tell our children something and we have to say it about a dozen times and then yell it for it to get done. (Today, "put all dishes in the sink" was accomplished after I yelled.) We talk to our husbands and they don't listen to us either. If a woman says she feels alone, it is because she is talking to herself. She is listening to what she says and that makes her feel alone. When we are with each other, we listen, we empathize, we feel the pain. We know what the other person is going through.
I can spend the day out shopping for groceries (three different stores, the pain is real) and on one stop, tell the children to make sure all the dishes are in the sink and washed and come home, on another stop, and they are still lying around untouched. Did we leave that mess there? No, the kids and/or husband left it there. We remind them that the dishes need to be washed. Leave again and come home to find what? Dishes still lying around untouched. Now the yelling starts. You have spoken in nice tones all day, but now you are hurting and you are hot and you are tired and the chore you left is still undone. It is no wonder we yell (1) and talk to ourselves (2).
I know that when my kids talk to me, I stop what I am doing and pay attention. When my husband talks, I stop. It takes me forever to read a book when they are awake. Best reading time? Early, early morning or late, late night. During the rest of the time, I walk around talking and being ignored.
Just curious, does anyone else notice this at their house, too? I know I cannot be alone.
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